Threads of Fate
by Talndir
Summary: It is one year after the Itomori incident - Mitsuha has retaken her second year of high school and moved to Tokyo, while Taki's life has returned to normal. When Mitsuha ends up transferring into Taki's class, memories start to return and a romance begins to bloom. [AU where Mitsuha and Taki are only separated by one year rather than three.]
1. Prologue

**A/N**

Welcome to _Threads of Fate_! This is a _Kimi no Na wa._ ( _Your Name._ ) fanfiction, and I do sincerely hope you enjoy it. There are just a few things I need to mention before we start:

Firstly, this story makes exactly one change to canon – in this story, the Itomori incident happened in 2015 rather than 2013. This makes Mitsuha only one year older than Taki, rather than three. Everything else is the same – if I get anything wrong, please do correct me. I may take liberties on minor details if it makes the story more interesting, but generally I will stick closely to canon. I have only watched the film, so if there are details in the books I am missing, I do apologise and may change or add things if I am informed of any inaccuracies. Oh and if you haven't either seen the film or read the books…you probably shouldn't be reading this fic!

Secondly, a note on Japanese. I really dislike using Japanese when writing for an English-speaking audience, but some things must be kept in. Notably, names will be in the order _family-name given-name_ , for example _Miyamizu Mitsuha_ or _Tachibana Taki._ Use of honorifics will be used when appropriate, for example _-senpai_ (senior) _, -sensei_ (teacher) and _-san_ (general respect). If honorifics or nicknames are used in canon they will be used here, for example Mitsuha calls Taki and Sayaka _Taki-kun_ and _Saya-chan_ respectively in the film, so they will be mirrored here. There are a few important Japanese terms in the film such as _musubi_ (knotting/connectedness) and _kataware-doki_ (twilight/witching hour) – if these words are ever used, I will attempt to explain their importance as much as I can, both in the story and in a subsequent author's note. Whew. I hope all that doesn't put you off, it should very rarely cause any issues, but please do ask if you think something requires extra clarification.

Thirdly, upload schedule is one chapter every other weekend. I will always be at least one chapter ahead, and if a chapter gets delayed it will be delayed for exactly one week. I may upload more regularly if I get too far ahead, but no promises, and hopefully I won't fall behind. Chapters are ~5000 words, and this story should be somewhere between 10-20 chapters.

Finally, I appreciate any reviews or messages that aren't blatantly hateful – please do give me some (constructive) criticism, whether that's on my writing style, characterisation, world building, plot, or any inaccuracies to either canon or real life. I would much prefer a 'this is good/bad, [but] it would be better if…' than 'it's great' or 'it's terrible'.

Without further ado, find a comfy seat and enjoy the story!

* * *

 _ **Threads of Fate**_

 **Prologue**

The first thing Mitsuha noticed was the light. It was very white, and very bright – even with her eyes closed she could feel the intensity pushing at her eyelids. Trying to move her arms, she noticed the dull aches pulsing across her body, like someone had poured cement into her bloodstream. With no painless way to avert her eyes, she opted to open them instead. As they adjusted, Mitsuha began to make out sounds – people scurrying to and fro, the sounds of quiet conversations, and the steady ticking of a clock.

Suddenly realising where she was and the source of her injuries, she gasped and sat upright – only to collapse back against her bed with a wince. There was no way she could get up as she was now; she would talk to a nurse once one noticed she'd awoken. As she relaxed her body, her hands naturally unfurled from where they had been gripping the sheets in pain, and Mitsuha caught a glimpse of black ink on the palm of her right hand. It took her a few moments to read it upside down, but then she smiled. _I love you_ , written in handwriting that was somewhat familiar to her.

The only problem was, she couldn't for the life of her remember whose handwriting it was.

〈◇〉

It took only a few days for Mitsuha to be released from Furakawa hospital in Hida. There were still a few people recuperating both there and at the larger main hospital, but one thing was known for certain: there had been no fatalities. The evacuation hadn't gone exactly as planned – it had been far too close for comfort – but at least everyone had survived. As one of the last evacuees helping others to safety, it seems she ended up getting hit by the blast and taking quite the bumpy ride down a hill, along with a number of other stragglers…including her father. Luckily for the residents of Itomori, mayor Miyamizu listened to his daughter's plea and went ahead with the evacuation to the town's school. Unluckily for the mayor, his injuries will keep him in hospital for another two weeks at least. For now, Mitsuha could take relief in her completely unharmed sister and grandmother, the latter being one of the only ones to know it was her who…her who had…

…who had what? She vaguely remembered Tessie and Sayaka being there with her the day of the incident (that was what the media were calling it) but both of them had received some level of concussion and didn't remember any more than she did. The only one who seemed to know anything was her grandmother, but the old woman was keeping suspiciously silent as usual. Also, according to Yotsuha she'd even gone to Tokyo one day prior, to go on a date…or something. Another event she had almost no recollection of.

Whenever Mitsuha began to think about the events of the destruction of her hometown, she would end up opening her right hand and looking at her palm. The marks had all but faded away, but she sought solace in the three single characters that had been written there. Someone, somewhere, loved her. If only she could remember who, or where. Subconsciously, Mitsuha's other hand moved to the ribbon that was now tied around her recently shortened hair. The Miyamizu shrine may be a pile of rubble, the surrounding town utterly decimated – but she had at least this single memento of the life she once despised so much. For so long she had wanted to fly away from the quiet, empty town of Itomori, desperately wishing for another life in another place – so why was it so hard to let go?

"…home? Hey, onee-chan, are you alive in there? Did the doctors not fix you properly?"

Mitsuha looked up just in time to see her sister's pointed finger heading straight for her eye. Luckily for her, Yotsuha noticed her return to the world of the living and decided to forgo the painful probing of her face. "Sayaka-senpai called. She said Teshigawara-senpai's been released from the hospital, and she's going over there to meet him."

"Teshiga…Tessie's out? Oh, Saya-chan will be happy…" Mitsuha mumbled, her mind still trying to find the name of that one person she so wanted to remember. She stood up, took a deep breath to focus herself, and walked towards the front door of the place they would be renting for the foreseeable future.

"Huh…where are you going? To the hospital?" Yotsuha poked her head around the corner, watching her older sister put her shoes on.

"Yeah. I'll check on Dad while I'm there. Tell grandma I'll be back in time to cook dinner."

〈◇〉

Despite being the mayor of the hole where Itomori used to be, Miyamizu Toshiki couldn't do much to help his former townspeople. Most of Itomori's residents went to live with family members or stayed in Hida while trying to find a place to live permanently. Some had already relocated to nearby towns and cities in Gifu prefecture. Although home insurance pays out for earthquakes and tsunami (Japan is situated over numerous fault lines after all), it doesn't typically cover meteorite strikes; however, the Japanese government did award all homeowners with some compensation, enough to make a deposit on a house at least.

After the dust settled (both literally and figuratively) everything that remained of the town was retrieved, the few undamaged buildings abandoned, and a new life began. There was plenty of administrative work to be done – the local council was small and the scale of the disaster large, so it took a good two months until the media and government gave the mayor any time to breathe. By mid-December two things were clear: firstly, the Miyamizu family would be staying together from now on; and secondly, they probably wouldn't be staying in Gifu. Toshiki needed a job, preferably far away from the most terrifying event of his life; his mother-in-law, Hitoha, was remarkedly indifferent about the loss of the shrine of her heritage, and just wanted somewhere interesting to settle down; Mitsuha had wanted to leave Itomori for years, albeit ideally of her own volition; and Yotsuha was naturally devastated but was making a conscious effort to move on.

It wasn't until early January that the family moved in with Mitsuha and Yotsuha's paternal grandparents, in a house in Ikebukuro, Tokyo, over 200 kilometres from their small town in Gifu. There were still near-constant trips between Tokyo, Hida and Itomori, which made the family's life very disruptive – hence living with the girls' paternal grandparents, where they would be looked after whenever Toshiki was away. Not that they needed it – they had been just fine with the two of them and grandma back in Itomori – but it was nice to have some regular contact with dad's side of the family.

It wasn't until February and the kids' mysterious abundance of free time that they realised nearly five months of school had been missed. Yotsuha was largely unaffected as she could catch up without too much trouble, she was only in grade 5 after all. But Mitsuha's was a different story – with the hassle of losing her home, helping her dad sort out the remains of the town and moving to the city she had ended up too far behind to go into third year. It wouldn't have been a major problem but for the fact that it was both the most difficult and most important year of her education so far, as it was the year students would apply for and take university entrance exams. Under pressure from her dad, Mitsuha ended up effectively retaking her second year in the form of a part-time catch-up school. With her friends still in Hida and her normal daily school routine disrupted, she felt that she had lost much more than her town – her entire life had been ripped out from under her, without her having any control or choice over it.

And so, months passed by uneventfully. Toshiki tried to make it back into politics, but his heart wasn't really into it. Yotsuha was excited about her new life, but as the novelty of the city wore off she began to miss her beautiful lakeside town. And Mitsuha tried to enjoy her time in Ikebukuro, but had this constant nagging feeling that there was something she was missing. That until she found who, or what, she was looking for, her life wouldn't truly begin.

Mitsuha's dad was retiring from politics for good, which meant going back to his old job. His degree in business and economics meant he was in a good position, but his lack of recent experience was quite the hindrance. It wasn't exactly what he was looking for, but the store manager of the Shibuya branch of a new chain of department stores was honestly a bit better than he was expecting. Being recognised at his interview as the man who had successfully evacuated Itomori may have had something to do with it, although he wouldn't mind keeping that bit of information hidden if possible – becoming a minor celebrity had never been very high on his to-do list. Nevertheless, this was exactly the kind of break he had been looking for.

〈◇〉

"Ikebukuro's too far. Ideally I want to be within a half-hour commute of central Shibuya. That means Shibuya, Minato, maybe eastern Setagaya. Shinjuku as well. I'd rather avoid the tourist traps if I can help it, but, well, it is Shibuya we're talking about here."

"An hour each way, that's certainly an inconvenience, but not impossible by any means. Staying here isn't such a bad idea." That was grandpa, he did always used to ask them to visit more often.

"And we can tell, Toshiki. You're still hurting. You don't need to be so hasty to move away. It's been lovely having you and the girls here." Grandma's soft voice barely made its way under the door.

A moment of silence, then a quiet sigh.

"You're right. But I have to move on somehow. I want to spend more time with my daughters – they're putting on brave faces, but I know they miss the town as well, far more than I do."

Mitsuha moved closer to the sliding door, being careful not to accidentally knock against it. This voice, a voice of care and empathy, gentleness and calmness, reminded her of back before Yotsuha was born; when they were all living together, and Mum was still alive.

"Working so far away will make that difficult. I want… _we_ want to be a family again. I think we need some time to ourselves. It's also not fair to you that you have my mother-in-law to take care of too."

"You're making excuses son, and you know it. And it's been nice to have some more company, we don't really mind Hitoha staying too."

"It's not just that. Mitsuha still hasn't settled in or made any friends, and Yotsuha doesn't really like it here. I'm a city man, but they're still country girls. I can tell she misses the openness, the greenery. As contradictory as it sounds, the further into Tokyo we are, the more nature there is. There are national parks near the centre of the city big enough to drop a small town into. Ikebukuro just doesn't have what my daughters need, but Shibuya does.  
"I've been so distant from them for so much of their childhood, I want to do at least this much for them."

After that the talk moved to uninteresting topics – cost, space, travel, things Mitsuha either didn't care about or didn't really understand, although she was pretty shocked at the figures the adults came up with for a single flat's rent. She had listened in for long enough, and slowly made her way back to bed, making sure to keep her movements quiet lest she wake her sister. Sliding into her futon, she considered her feelings about what she'd just heard.

She should have been ecstatic, but there was a feeling of numbness and indifference that surprised her. Tokyo was still a mixture of exciting and alien to her, but although the desire to live there hadn't faded, she just couldn't help but feel that it not being her choice undermined the importance of the event. The crux of the matter was that they were moving. In the end they would simply be exchanging one city for another, but Dad was right about Yotsuha. She would definitely like a place near a national park or something. As Mitsuha drifted to sleep, she wished only for the passion she once had, those couple of months before her life went to hell.

〈◇〉

The three of them set off two weeks later, grandma staying home since it would take far too long to get around with her hobbling along behind them. Dad had some properties in mind that he'd found on the internet or in newspapers, but the real purpose of their expedition was to explore the area. He hadn't wanted to bring them along at first but eventually ceded to Mitsuha's appeals that they were all moving house, not just him, and it was only fair to let them have a look too. They started off at Shibuya station and moved outwards, first visiting the store Dad would be managing, then looking at some more residential areas. It took them the better part of four hours to cover most of Shibuya, ending their morning (to Yotsuha's insistence) with a walk through Yoyogi Park. Unfortunately they hadn't had enough foresight to make a picnic and ended up buying a makeshift lunch outside a nearby station.

"This area is fairly aesthetic. It's close to a main station, and the prices are…manageable…" Toshiki muttered to himself and went over the places he had seen and the addresses he'd written down as he looked at the notebook resting in his lap, his face frowning in concentration.

"I really like the park! Maybe we could live somewhere near it?"

"Well of course you liked the park, there was a shrine there after all," Mitsuha immediately replied, rebuking her energetic sister. Unlike herself, Yotsuha had loved being a part of the running of Miyamizu shrine back in Itomori.

Yotsuha crossed her arms, which was made difficult by the drink she was holding in one hand. "Maybe I'll become a shrine maiden of Jingu Shrine. Just like back home."

Mitsuha almost spat out her own drink, not because of Yotsuha's proclamation but from the name Yotsuha had casually tossed at her. "Jingu…." She was sure she had heard that name before, and Shibuya station was also beginning to ring a few old bells. Perhaps this is where she had come that day one year ago, the day she apparently took a spontaneous trip to Tokyo. Kind of a random destination…but there was no other explanation. Was there?

The feeling of nostalgia only strengthened as the family entered the station to take the metro up to Shinjuku. Despite their initial concerns it seemed Dad and grandpa had found some relatively affordable housing there, so that was their next stop.

"Onee-chan, where are you going? That's the wrong platform."

For some reason Mitsuha had automatically moved towards the westbound platform as her sister and father turned the other way to descend to the northbound. She'd better not get separated – there's no phone signal underground so contacting each other would be a pain if she got on the wrong line. After getting on the correct train they ended up passing straight under Shinjuku station and towards the Toyama quarter, where a few good flats were for sale.

After a couple of hours of looking around the area, as well as having a brief look at some nearby schools, they began to move back towards the main station. Yotsuha seemed pretty intent on Yoyogi, and Dad liked the area, so Mitsuha was fairly sure that's where they would end up. It was quite strange; she had wanted to come to central Tokyo for a long time, since she was Yotsuha's age, but the excitement was gone – or more accurately, it had yet to arrive. There was something nagging at her mind, like a name she couldn't quite place or a flicker in the corner of her eye, but no matter where they went she just didn't feel like it could be a new home for her. There was something missing, some old memory telling her of some other place…

Ignoring Mitsuha's brooding, the family made its way to the main road that led to the station, which ran alongside a national garden for a few hundred metres. Toshiki really wanted to get back to Ikebukuro before rush hour started, or the trains would be packed…

The last twelve months had really changed Miyamizu Toshiki. After witnessing the destruction of his town and dealing with the ensuing fallout, he had felt like a complete failure – and to top it all off he'd nearly ignored his daughter's warnings about the meteorite strike, which would have killed every single resident had she not managed to convince him. He felt helpless in other ways too – he couldn't help his people get their lives back, there was no way to truly compensate them for the land and possessions they had lost…but most of all, he felt that he had failed his family. After his wife's death, he had blamed the shrine and its way of life and left his daughters with his mother-in-law to grow up almost entirely without him.

The incident had woken him up to the reality that his children's lives were going to flash by with he, their father, simply watching from the sidelines. Once he moved back in with his parents, Toshiki began to recall memories of his own father from his childhood, the kind of man he had been to his daughters before Futaba's death, and compared them to the man he had become after her passing. With some guidance from his elderly parents, he aimed to be a better man from now on. And his efforts weren't going unnoticed, especially by Mitsuha – but he was still a long way from where he wanted to be.

Toshiki felt a pull at his shirt sleeve. "Um, Dad, nee-san's acting funny. I think she wants to eat something." His eyes moved in the direction his youngest was pointing to see Mitsuha staring intently into the window of a café, with an amazed expression painting her face. 'Il Giardino Delle Parole', a fancy Italian place…seems expensive. He would prefer to wait until they got home, then have a proper dinner, but he was also making an effort to try and dote on his daughters a bit more.

Just as he was making up his mind, Mitsuha suddenly turned away, paused for a second, and without warning ran straight into the crowd.

"Mitsuha? Mitsuha!" His shouts failing to reach her, Toshiki grabbed Yotsuha's hand and began to follow after Mitsuha, but it was hopeless – she had already disappeared.

"I'll call her." But no matter how many times he hit redial, he couldn't get past Mitsuha's voicemail. Not bothering to listen to the full message, he instead kept cutting the call and trying again. "What has gotten into that girl's head?" he mumbled angrily as he jabbed at the screen once more.

"Ah!" Yotsuha proudly pushed her own phone up in front of her dad's face. He had finally given in and got her one now that they were moving to Tokyo, and she seemed incredibly pleased to get a message from her sister. 'Tell Dad I saw a friend, they're in a rush so I can't stick around. I'll be with them for a while but I'll call once I have a chance.'

"Honestly...I'll have some stern words for her once she gets back. And since when did she have any friends from Tokyo? She was staring into a shop window just a second ago!"

"What should we do now? We were just about to leave, but we can't go back home without her."

Toshiki's face hardened, before he let the tension fall from his shoulders and turned back towards their original destination. "We'll wait in the station. There's plenty to do around there while we wait. Once she does decide to show up, she'll be having a very unpleasant journey back…"

Yotsuha's face became apprehensive as she recognised her father put on his politics face for the first time in months, but he didn't notice – he was too busy devising a suitable lecture for when his usually well-behaved daughter came back.

〈◇〉

Mitsuha turned away from the shop window and ran. She now knew exactly where she was. Rushing through the crowded pavement, she stopped only to silence her constantly ringing phone and type out a quick message to her sister. A few hundred metres along the main road, she turned off into a side street and quickly wove her way through the residential area towards her destination – a small block of flats near Suga shrine. Rounding the corner and slipping past a woman with a pram, Mitsuha immediately recognised the building in front of her – the building that felt more like a home than any of the places she had visited today.

She barely had time to get excited before arriving at her destination. Eagerly pushing the button for the top flat, she waited, breath ragged and heart beating viciously...but no-one replied through the intercom. After a couple more attempts were met with nothing more than quiet static, she turned away, shoulders slightly deflated, and began to walk to the closest station.

Mitsuha took a good look at her surroundings as she walked, slowly getting her breath back. She knew this place, this road, that house, those signs. They were imprinted on her memory, like someone had branded a map into her mind; more than a map, as she could remember journeys taken, an orange sunset, the sound of commuters, making breakfast each morning…it was like a dream of a life she had once lived. Even the ticket barriers, the escalator down to the platforms, the colour of the train seats, all felt natural and so very normal. Despite never having been to Shinanomachi station before, she felt like she'd walked through those doors dozens of times before.

Once she boarded the next westbound train, the world outside the windows faded into a dark tunnel and Mitsuha had some time to think. This really wasn't like her, being so impulsive and lying to her dad like that. But once she sat down and thought things through, she realised that she had absolutely no idea what she was doing or where she was going, or even why she'd boarded the subway. She needed to change lines soon, she knew that much, but after that there was no plan.

A very rational fear began to grow in the front of her mind - it was like her instincts had taken control, guiding her to places she had never been to, but knew all the same. Once again, Mitsuha's unfocused gaze drifted from the passenger opposite her to her right hand, seeking refuge in the words that had been inscribed there so long ago. And somehow she knew that had someone answered that door, she would have met the one who had written them.

Changing to the Yamanote line, Mitsuha was completely unaware that her dad and sister were barely 50 metres away from her, enjoying some very nice ice cream inside Shinjuku station proper. Of course, the sole purpose of such a purchase was so Yotsuha could tease her about it afterwards and discourage any more impromptu adventures – but Mitsuha's mission was far more important than a frozen dessert, even if she wasn't sure exactly what said mission was.

Stepping off the platform at Shibuya, she made her way to the surface, and walked outside. She had come here earlier this morning, turning westwards after leaving and following her dad to his new workplace. This time however, she turned away from the setting sun, and Mitsuha's feet carried her all the way to Jingu high school. It was just short of half five, so there were a few students still having their club activities – she could see the track and field club in the distance, with one figure clearly in the lead and the rest of the pack tiredly trying to catch up. However, she knew she wouldn't find the person she was looking for – if a person was even what she was looking for. She would usually be at school herself, except the owner of one of the flats they had visited would be out all next week so today was their only chance to talk in person. In fact, she probably looked pretty suspicious – she was the right age, at the wrong school and with no uniform on to boot. She'd better scram before-

"Can I help you?" A deep voice intoned from around a foot above her head. Mitsuha shrieked and leapt back, which was exactly the wrong direction to leap in as the man was standing directly behind her. Turning, bowing and apologising profusely, Mitsuha looked up to see –

"Oh, Kitamura-sensei." The man – who must clearly not be called Kitamura by the expression on his face – looked down and frowned. His slicked-back hair managed to stay perfectly still as his broad face creased slightly around his thin eyebrows and mouth, and the hands clasped behind his back managed to make his shoulders seem even wider than they already were as he leaned down slightly to peer at the perfectly ordinary girl in front of him.

"And who would you be, exactly? You're not one of my students, so how do you know my name?"

"Eh…oh, um…you look like…like my uncle, who's also called Kitamura…" Mitsuha mentally zipped her mouth shut and threw away the key, to prevent herself from saying anything else she really shouldn't know.

"Really?!" Somehow this seemed to be the right thing to say, as the man straightened and his features smoothed out, his eyes staying focused while the corners of his mouth barely moved upward. "Perhaps I have a long-lost brother!" Suddenly his slight smile began to feel more dangerous than amused.

"Now really, why are you here? If you have business with the school, you should make your way to the reception. Shouldn't you be in school yourself anyway?"

"Actually, um, I might be applying here next year. For my final year. Since I'm moving into the area and all…"

"Oho, a prospective student? Unusual, but not unwelcome. Well, you should come along with your parents within the next two weeks, before the spring holiday. Our current second year is a little small, so there should be some space. Providing you have decent grades and behaviour of course." He seemed to have already forgotten that future student or no, she really should be in school herself.

"Of course. I'll talk to my dad about it." Her phone had begun to buzz in her pocket – she really shouldn't keep them waiting any longer.

After a promise to come visit again before the start of the next school year in less than a month's time, Mitsuha walked around the corner and out of sight before checking her phone, only to find it was a regular 'Upgrade your contract!' text from her network. Now she really did feel bad about running off the way she had. Pocketing her phone, she began the short walk back to the station.

〈◇〉

The ride back to Ikebukuro was not what you would call 'fun'. Not only was it irresponsible to go off alone into an unfamiliar city, but it was also incredibly rude to the people with you – or at least, that's what her dad tried to drill into her head. It took him twenty minutes before he realised that lecturing his daughter would yield no gain for either of them. However, many years as a politician had taught him a thing or two about dealing with people. Time for a different direction of attack.

"So, who's your friend?" His tone had changed completely, although his slightly annoyed expression rather ruined the non-confrontational vibe he was trying to give off. "You said you saw a friend. I didn't know you knew anyone from Tokyo."

"Hm? Oh, him, well he came to visit Itomori once and we ended up accidentally meeting near the shrine. I just happened to see him coming out that cafe." After managing to tune out her dad's reproaches she had spent the journey so far trying to come up with a convincing lie. The story came to her quite naturally, and she felt it was pretty believable.

"And what was he in a rush for?" Press them for details and they'll slip up eventually.

"He has a part-time job. At a restaurant." Or maybe not. Perhaps this guy really does exist… "He showed me his school."

"I thought you said he was late for his job?" Raised eyebrows and a focused line of sight was enough to convey her dad's scepticism of her story.

"He had to, um, pick up some stuff from school first. That's why he was in such a rush." Phew. That was a close one, luckily Mitsuha's improvisation skills were up to scratch. "The school's really good, it's a senior high school in Jingu. It's really close to Shibuya station, and probably within walking distance of that place Yotsuha liked, the one near the park."

"You mean in Yoyogi?" He had already found a couple of good schools slightly closer, and he could tell she wasn't completely telling the truth. For some reason there was a certain measure of excitement in her voice. She wanted something, and he controlled it. He had found his line of attack. Time to put the mayor face back on again.

"You run off following some boy you met exactly once, send a single, uninformative text, leave us alone for an hour and come back wanting to go to his school? I can't think of a single reason why I should listen to you."

"But it's a really good school. And-"

"What's his name?" The final nail in the coffin. Toshiki didn't buy his daughter's story for a minute – she wasn't one to tell tall tales, but once he proves she's lying she'll admit defeat.

"…" Mitsuha's face fell, and for a moment she looked very vulnerable, much more vulnerable than she'd ever seemed before. She turned towards the window, opened her mouth, took a breath – and slowly exhaled, turning her face downwards.

"I don't know. I can't…remember. And, I get the feeling he can't remember mine either."

As his daughter stared intently into the hands now placed in her lap, Miyamizu Toshiki saw a deep sadness, something a girl her age should in no way have. But then her eyes became bright and filled with determination, and they pierced directly into his. For a moment he saw in them a scene he had only seen once before – a scene of a comet falling on a helpless town, and the girl whose determination and belief had swayed his mind.

Perhaps she was really telling the truth…but truth or not, there seemed to be a deep reason why she wanted to go to this school. After her not so pleasant time in the Ikebukuro school he had chosen for her, it's only fair she gets to choose this time. Treating his family like opponents to be defeated wasn't right. She wasn't just any girl; she was his daughter, Miyamizu Mitsuha. Perhaps he could give her what she wanted, just this once.

"…I'll consider it."

* * *

 **A/N**

This prologue was a bit weird, quickly covering the time between the meteorite destroying Itomori and the start of the story proper. I'm not sure if you can actually retake a year in Japanese school – if anyone knows whether my explanation was satisfactory or not, please let me know. It's one of those small liberties I can take for the sake of moving the story in the direction I want. If you've already figured out why I made Mitsuha retake her second year, well done, and see if you're right next chapter!

 _Talndir_

* * *

 **11/08/2018:** Corrected spelling mistake.  
 **18/08/2018:** Changed name of 'La Boheme' to ''Il Giardino Delle Parole' (see next chapter's AN).


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Mitsuha hadn't felt such a combination of apprehension and excitement since her first day of school, which was understandable since today _was_ her first day of school. Of high school, that was. Final year, to be exact…in fact, the more she thought about it, the sillier her anxiousness seemed. But she had good reason to be so nervous – she'd lived her whole life in the same town, with the same people, going to the same school. She'd already known most of her classmates years before school even started, that was how close-knit the community of Itomori was. This time she was venturing into unknown territory in the heart of a city she still didn't understand, encroaching on established friend groups and relationships that lived in a different world to hers. She only hoped that her time here would be better than at that awful private school back in Ikebukuro.

It was a good thing her old school had all their exams data backed up too, otherwise they never would've let her in. Transferring in your final year into a relatively good school meant having a strong academic record, and fortunately for Mitsuha her record was still available. Imagine the excuse: S _orry sir, a meteorite destroyed my homework_. The mere thought of such a thing made her almost laugh aloud as she put on her uniform.

Luckily Jingu didn't subscribe to the popular sailor outfit look, instead opting for a more western polo shirt and blazer. This was, however, the first time Mitsuha would be wearing a tie, striped in alternating dark and lime green. That meant she couldn't wear her customary red bow that was the (rather pretty) signature of her old Itomori school – but she had checked the rules and there was nothing forbidding the use of hair accessories, in particular the braided red cord she always used to tie her hair with, and that held so much meaning to her.

Looking at herself in the mirror, Mitsuha was happy with how she looked. The tie wasn't exactly the most welcome addition to her wardrobe, but it didn't look bad either. She'd got up pretty early to cook breakfast for her dad, as he usually left a little bit before she did, so she had plenty of time to admire herself in the mirror if she so wished. Generally the family would get up together to eat, despite the girls having no other reason to get up so early – a very good habit to keep. Now that school had started, Toshiki would be leaving first to take the subway down to Shibuya, followed by Mitsuha around fifteen minutes later, then finally Yotsuha a few minutes after that, but going the opposite way.

However, today was special – parents of first-years were always invited to school entrance ceremonies, so today Dad would be taking the morning off work to go with Yotsuha to her new junior high school. The entrance ceremonies back in Itomori were pretty low-key, so both sisters were excited to see how things were done at a large, city school. Technically Yotsuha would be entering into second year, but their dad had been invited anyway, so he'd decided it was a good opportunity as any to get a bit more involved in at least one of his daughters' education.

Yotsuha's bursting energy was the kind you could feel from a different room without even needing to look at her enthusiastic face or hear her loud voice and pounding footfalls as she excitedly ran about the flat. Unlike Mitsuha, Yotsuha had actually managed to make friends during her year in Ikebukuro. It wasn't that Mitsuha hadn't made any friends at all; she simply hadn't managed to connect to anyone at the school she attended, for a multitude of reasons.

Whereas Mitsuha's nervousness and anticipation were something you could only see in the tenseness of her shoulders and distracted eyes, her little sister was clearly not feeling any sort of regret or apprehension over moving school. As evidenced by yet another squeal from her bedroom, Yotsuha's was a mind of letting go and moving on; at least, that was how it seemed to Mitsuha – you never could really tell what was actually going on inside her head. She was usually more reserved than this, so it was surprising to see her so full of vigour. How grandma was still asleep was a mystery…

Mitsuha put her bag on, before realising it would be easier to put on her shoes with it off, then tried doing her laces with it on anyway, before giving up and putting it down; was her brain already this fried so early in the morning? She was just straightening up and opening the front door when she heard running footsteps and stopped with the door slightly ajar.

"Wait for us! Don't leave yet, Dad's still getting ready!"

"Yotsuha, we take different routes to school now. In fact, I'm pretty sure we go in completely opposite directions from the moment we step out the house."

"Well, at least have a look at my uniform!" Turning around, Mitsuha assessed her slightly out-of-breath sister. Since there was no combined junior, senior, and middle school in the area, Yotsuha attended a different school, one that _did_ sport a sailor uniform. To be fair, she did look pretty cute in it. Perhaps it wasn't so bad after all…

"I'm kinda jealous, it fits you really well…but I'm assuming the hair jutting horizontally out the side of your head isn't intentional?"

Yotsuha's eyes went wide and she quickly scrambled to the bathroom to find a mirror and brush. "See you later!" the two sisters called to each other before the elder of the two stepped outside and clicked the door shut behind her. Climbing down the stairs and out the main door of the shared building, she took a deep breath of the not-so-fresh Tokyo air before stepping out onto the pavement. Trying to stand up straight (something her dad was very vocal about) she began what would be the first of many journeys to her new school.

The road wasn't exactly busy, which was to be expected since she lived in a residential area, but as Mitsuha drew closer to the station the number of people began to increase – she even spotted a few familiar uniforms, but she couldn't get close enough to confirm whether they were really from her school. That's right, it wasn't just _a_ school anymore, it was _her_ school. She quickly swept away the nervousness that came with that assessment before entering the station and waiting in line for the ticket barriers.

To be perfectly honest she could easily walk to the school from where they now lived, but the metro took around 15 minutes off her travel time and she could get discount prices as she was a student. Besides, she'd probably need to get around the city a bit anyway, which would be incredibly tiring on foot. She knew her reasoning had been flawed, but a few days earlier there had been a report of a mugging in the local paper, and when her dad had noticed it had occurred directly on the route she would have to take were she to go by foot, he'd immediately relented and got her a prepaid travel pass. Technically the buses would've been even faster, but she preferred trains, and it would only be a five-minute difference. As for cycling…for some reason, there was a deeply-rooted feeling of absolute terror when she even thought about riding a bike in such a hectic city – Mitsuha had had enough bike accidents back in Itomori. She'd never ridden in Tokyo before, and she wasn't going to start now.

Descending to the platform, she allowed herself a small internal cheer as the train pulled in right in front of- never mind, it was pulling out, not in. Her heart slowing back down (why did arriving at just the right time excite her so?) she waited the two minutes for the next train, which luckily wasn't as ridiculously packed as the previous one. She saw the hint of a similar uniform to hers a fair ways down the carriage, but whoever it was was almost entirely blocked from her view, and she wouldn't recognise them anyway. Mitsuha turned away and grabbed a handrail as the train left the platform, just in time to avoid falling into the woman standing next to her.

Arriving at Shibuya station around five minutes later, Mitsuha made her way up to the surface, finally breaking through to the world of sunlight and openness. Looking around her in awe, she was overwhelmed with the sheer number of people around her. It was the first time she'd come to Shibuya at rush hour, and in just a few seconds she'd seen more people than the entire population of Itomori – at least, that was how it seemed. Ikebukuro had been pretty busy, but it was nothing compared to this manic rush of hundreds, no, thousands of students, businessmen, labourers, government officials, parents and children, cars, buses, bikes, and even planes flying overhead…

Her contemplation ended when a man roughly pushed past her, and she realised she'd been standing almost directly in front of the entrance – or rather, one of the many entrances – to the station. Taking her bearings, she set off at a slow walk and simply observed her surroundings, but there was really no need. The buildings, streets, even some of the shops she knew by name and sight. She even caught herself absent-mindedly crossing the road before realising that yes, she was in fact going the right way, despite only having come this way a couple of times before. It was a strange sensation, like humming a tune for a piece of music you were sure you'd never heard before.

Soon the density of students began to increase. As she came closer to her destination, Mitsuha began to see ever-increasing numbers of teenagers wearing the same uniform she was wearing herself. Most were in groups, excitedly chatting – she caught snippets of conversation about classes, teachers and the spring break before tuning out slightly to simply absorb the atmosphere around her. There was also a large number of parents; it was the entrance ceremony after all. Despite also being a new student herself, she was actually transferring straight into third year, which was why she wasn't going in with the new first-years or bringing her family along.

Eventually the students converged onto one point, the school's main gates. They were wide enough to accommodate at least five people abreast, but despite leaving early she'd somehow walked slowly enough to end up arriving at the most congested time of the morning; there was a bit of a crowd as everyone tried to enter at the same time. Slowly shuffling her way through, Mitsuha wandered around the main yard for a while, trying to recall any details of the fairly speedy tour she'd been given a couple of weeks prior, but before she had a chance to really explore she noticed most of the students moving towards a large building near the back of the school grounds. Figuring it was the beginning of the entrance ceremony, she hastened to follow them.

Falling in step with the students around her, Mitsuha slowly moved towards the doors as students and parents entered two or three at a time. Two years ago she had been attending a similar ceremony in Itomori, but of a much smaller scale of course. Back then she had attended as a senior student, welcoming the newcomers, but now the situation was slightly different. Not only was she the new one here, she would have to sit with all the other second- and third-years without having a clue as to what was going on.

Today was going to be a long day.

〈◇〉

Mitsuha wanted nothing more than to melt into a pair of puddles, one in each shoe, and pretend the last two hours had never happened.

Everything was going fine at first. After all, she was simply sitting in the audience, standing up, applauding and sitting down whenever everyone else did. But around halfway through the ceremony, the music started. Mitsuha felt her face simultaneously pale and redden as she realised she would have to sing the school anthem without knowing any of the words, with a group of teachers sitting just across the aisle from her. She'd already gotten some funny looks from them when she almost sat in the seats reserved for the student council, and there was no way they were going to just ignore her not singing…she would have to stumble through it as best she could.

And stumble through it she did. She ended up spending the rest of the ceremony trying to tell whether anyone had taken notice of the absence of sound coming from her mouth. To counter this, she had tried guessing obvious words when they had come up – words like 'school' and 'Japan' were pretty easy to insert into the right places once you heard the first syllable, but at one point the music abruptly stopped and she almost made a complete fool of herself. She really should have looked for the words on the school website or something…

After that farce of a song, she ashamedly kept her head down for the rest of the ceremony, but it seemed that if anyone had noticed they were doing her the favour of ignoring it. After far more speeches than anyone should be legally put through, the students were sent to meet their homeroom teachers. The class lists had been posted outside the gym entrance as they were inside, and the students excitedly, yet in an orderly fashion, left the gym to find who they were going to be spending the year with while the parents and teachers conversed inside.

Which class she was in was irrelevant to her as she knew precisely one teacher and zero students, but even so there was some nervousness simmering inside her as she scanned the lists. It was only when using an English-to-Japanese dictionary at school that she had first realised how convenient an alphabetical order was, something Japanese lacked – finding her name meant going through every name, top to bottom; she eventually found her name near the middle of the list for class 3-3, which was run by one 'Furukawa-sensei'. Luckily she remembered the way to the third-year classrooms from her tour a couple of weeks earlier and joined the students who were headed the same way.

"…kendo club this year…"  
"No, Kino's in 3-1 now-"  
"…why is the spring holiday so short…"  
"Yeah, but the exam's a-"  
"-covering for Okudera, she's ill-"  
"Who's that? The one-"  
"Tokyo? Not with these grades!"  
"-meet after? That guy…"  
"Same class again, huh?"

Around her she could hear lots of excited conversations and tried to figure out from her new schoolmates' facial expressions which groups had been split up and which would be staying together. Most of the students looked fairly happy, although she could see one particular group of boys who were starting to peel off one by one as they were all assigned to different classes. Eventually there were only two of them left, and they quickly waved goodbye as one of them turned into a door on the right, clearly marked '3-3'.

Following him in, Mitsuha took a seat near the middle of the class as more students entered and the desks began to fill up. The classroom was completely standard – rows of individual wooden desks and chairs, windows on the wall opposite the sliding door, chalkboards covering the front wall, and a larger desk with a computer for the teacher. A quick glance around made it clear that everyone knew each other and there were definitely some strongly established friendships; she even got a confused glance or two as more and more of her new classmates noticed the stranger slitting slap bang in the middle of their classroom – Mitsuha was beginning to regret sitting in such a central position.

Just as a girl tapped her on the shoulder from behind, a teacher – presumably Furukawa-sensei – walked in and shut the door behind him, and before she could fully turn around Mitsuha heard a quiet "Never mind" from whoever had been trying to get her attention.

Furakawa was a tall man, slightly hunched, with the look of someone who would feel right at home teaching an empty classroom. Dressed formally, he had already adjusted his glasses twice by the time he made it to the blackboard, and it wasn't hard to realise how little control he had, or even wanted, over the classes he taught. Eventually he put down his rather ancient briefcase and, after one final adjustment of his glasses, turned to face the class.

"Alright everyone, please settle down. I mean, not that it matters, there are no actual classes today. Well, except homeroom, but does that even count? It's more of a casual-" His voice began to drift into a mutter before a shout came from one of the students.

"Heeeeey, senseeeeei!" A boy near the windows half stood in his seat with his hand raised, and the intended recipient of the shout, along with everyone else in the room, turned to face him. "How was your break?" _So this one must be the class clown_ , Mitsuha thought amusingly.

"Hmm? Oh, yes, fine, very well actually. That is, very good. Not that it is relevant to your education."

He turned, picked up the nearest piece of chalk, inspected it closely, then looked up and began to write. "My name is Furakawa. That is, Furakawa-sensei. 'Sensei' isn't part of my name, but – well, anyway, just in case you need to write it, it's like this. 'Furakawa' that is, not 'sensei', I do sincerely hope you can all write that at your age. Anyway, it's 'Fura' as in 'old' and 'kawa' as in 'river'."

A sigh came from one of the front desks. "Sensei, we know your name. And how to write it as well. It's not exactly complicated, and we've known you for two years already."

"That's all well and good Suzuki-san, but I do distinctly remember you using the wrong character for 'kawa' last year when you wrote my name on an essay you handed in." A few students sniggered as the rest finally decided to quiet down and pay attention. "I almost refused to mark it. Not that it would have mattered, you only got 47 percent anyway." The class erupted into laughter at the teacher's surprisingly savage remark as the girl's head dropped onto her desk with an audible thud. Out of the corner of her eye, Mitsuha just managed to catch a small smile from Furakawa before he put down the chalk and turned to face his class.

"Alright, you know the drill." There was a collective groan from the class, and Furakawa spend a few seconds fumbling underneath the front desk before retrieving a small pot. "One by one, and no swapping." That last part seemed to be directed towards…someone, although it seemed as though even Furakawa himself didn't know exactly who. He turned around with a shrug and began to draw some sort of table on the blackboard.

"Come on." The girl sitting behind Mitsuha lightly touched her arm as she got up and walked to the front along with everyone else, and looked back at her, motioning to her to stand up. The girl was of medium height, with her hair pulled back in a small, loose ponytail that barely moved as she turned to face forward – Mitsuha didn't get a good look at her face before standing and moving behind her.

"What's going on?" She quietly spoke to the girl, just loud enough to be heard over the general chatter going on in front of and around them. The girl turned her head slightly to look over her shoulder, and Mitsuha absently noted the way her irises seemed to fade from black to brown as they expanded away from the pupil.

"Random seating arrangement. He's writing the desk numbers on the board now. Well, he's written two nineteens, but you get the idea." Glancing over at the board, Mitsuha saw that he had indeed drawn a grid of squares, six by five, and was scratching his head as to how he'd managed to fill the entire grid yet only get up to twenty-nine. For some reason the numbers were completely random, with one nineteen on the front row and the other near the back-left corner.

By the time he'd figured out his mistake and replaced the bottom-most nineteen with a thirty, the girl in front of Mitsuha had reached the desk and taken a slip. Mitsuha grabbed one at random and opened it up, where she saw a six written in handwriting that somehow managed to look both stylised and messy at the same time.

"Lucky you, you get to sit next to me." Before she even had a chance to find her number on the board, the girl had read the paper in her hand and said such a thing with a small, sharp smile adorning her otherwise soft features, before pulling away and moving towards her seat. Mitsuha looked back at the board and located her desk – fourth row, final column; the wall that the classroom shared with the corridor outside would be directly on her right side. Turning around, the girl (she really should ask her name already) had begun to take her seat to the left of Mitsuha, and already the complaints and high-fives were dying down as everyone accepted and settled into the desks they would be sitting at for the next year, some next to their friends, others not so lucky.

Mitsuha took her bag off the desk she had first sat at near the centre of the room and moved it over to her new one beside the wall. Hanging her bag on the hook attached to the side of the desk, she noted that the desk was nothing special, just a plain wooden desk as expected. Of course there were some pen marks here and there, and a slight chip near the top, but it was nevertheless in pretty good condition. Slowly the class began to quieten down and Mitsuha took notice of the people sitting around her.

To her left was the girl who had spoken to her earlier, sitting straight and looking around the room attentively. In front was a short boy, quite convenient as sitting behind someone tall was always a pain. He had very short, slightly curled hair and was learning his head on his hands, already beginning to drift off slightly. Looking over her left shoulder, the boy behind her was quite tall, with a calm look on his face and glasses sitting just below his parted hair. Noticing her looking at him, his eyes lit up slightly and he smiled. Mitsuha gave a quick smile in return before looking away; the girl sitting next to her had somehow managed to make her even more nervous than she was before entering the classroom.

Mitsuha absently noted a single empty seat, two seats in front and two to her left, before she heard the teacher cough and looked over towards the board.

"Right, um, welcome everyone. I mean, not that you need it, you've all been here two years already. Well, nearly all." Furakawa dropped her a quick glance over the rim of his glasses before grabbing a piece of paper seemingly at random – somehow his desk had already become covered with them – and began to read out the register.

"Watanabe."  
"Here."  
"Sakamoto."  
"Here!"  
"Kusakabe."  
"…heeeere…"  
"Well, someone's still asleep today. Suzuki."  
"Here!"

Mitsuha tried to remember the names, but there were far too many and she couldn't even tell who was answering as shouts of 'Here!' were called out from all over the room. She did manage to get the name of the girl next to her however - it was Hiraoka, and she was determined to at least remember that much. Then one name in particular stood out:

"Tachibana. …Tachibana?" The name sounded somewhat familiar…

"He's absent, sensei." It was the boy behind her who had answered. Ah, perhaps it was because it sounded so much like 'Teshigawara'. That reminded her, she hadn't spoken to Tessie or Saya-chan for a while, she should make sure not to fall out of touch with them.

"On the first day? And here I thought he might be more disciplined come the new school year. Oh well. Miyamizu?"

"Ah, here!" Mitsuha felt the eyes of the entire class turn upon her, and dryly swallowed against their expectant gazes. What they were waiting for, she didn't know, but she wished they'd just stop staring. And the tiny smirk on that girl – Hiraoka's – face really wasn't helping!

Luckily it was then that Furakawa came to the rescue. "You can introduce yourself in a minute, I suppose. Anyway, let's get on." His nonchalant voice had pulled most of the class' eyes away from her, and he continued on with the remainder of the register.

Mitsuha knew her classmates would have questions, so she had thought long and hard about what she would tell them, and she'd come to a conclusion that she wasn't quite happy about.

She'd decided not to tell them she was from Itomori. If they specifically asked her, she wouldn't lie, but the questions would be difficult and annoying and she really didn't have many answers to give. Worst of all would be if they found out her dad was the mayor – then the interrogations would really begin, and she was sure the news would spread quickly around the school, just like at Ikebukuro. She really didn't want that kind of attention.

"Alright, come on up and introduce yourself Miyamizu-san." It seemed the register had been completed while Mitsuha was busy thinking. With those words, she pushed back her chair, thankfully without it screeching against the floor, and calmly walked to the front. Of course, she looked calm on the outside, but her mind was already hitting itself as she prepared her white lie. It wasn't what she wanted, but it would be better than the alternative. Perhaps later, once she knew everyone a bit better…no, those thoughts aren't relevant right now! Mitsuha turned, took one shallow breath, and put on a smile as she looked across the class that was now rapt at attention.

"Hello. I'm Miyamizu Mitsuha, and I'm transferring in today. My family just moved here from Ikebukuro, and before that I lived in Gifu prefecture, so I don't really know the area that well. I've lived in the country all my life, so the city is quite new to me. I know it's quite unusual to transfer in third year, but, well, here I am. Anyway, I hope I can get to know you all very well over the next few months."

Mitsuha made a small bow to the class and began to make her way back to her seat, before stopping after only a step, turning to the teacher and repeating the bow. Quickly straightening, she turned back towards her desk and walked over, sitting down and finally taking a deep breath. _Oh my goodness, that was terrible!_ was the only thought that ran through her head as she went over what she'd just said. _It was too formal, and too long, and I said I was from Gifu so of course they'll ask me about Itomori, why didn't I write it down and practice it or something?!_ But looking around at the class, most seemed to be paying attention to the teacher and the few who were looking at her gave her smiles before looking forward once more. _It always sounds worse than it actually is, I suppose._

〈◇〉

The day ended early, barely past midday, and the halls quickly filled with students and teachers alike. The morning had been a kind of induction, meeting her classmates and homeroom teacher before dates for holidays and major events were discussed, then finally they were told their timetable and who would be teaching them each subject; Furakawa would be teaching them history and geography, and Kitamura, the teacher she'd met on the day they'd gone house-hunting, biology. There hadn't been any time to properly talk with anyone until the class was dismissed, and it seemed that school would be ending here for today.

After homeroom finished, most students threw her a quick greeting before heading out to take advantage of the half day, but a few took a little longer to talk to her properly. Hiraoka had a couple of questions about her previous school and about the country, but nothing too invasive and Itomori wasn't at all mentioned – it seemed that she'd taken a liking to Mitsuha for some reason. Then there was Saito Akane, a bubbly and cheerful girl with short shoulder-length hair and a round face, who seemed like she was about to explode with excitement when introducing herself before hugging a very surprised Mitsuha and flying out the door like she was on a spring. Finally there was Fujii Tsukasa, who welcomed her on behalf of the school council – he was the boy who sat behind her and held himself in a confident yet calming way. He was going to meet a couple of friends after school so had to rush a bit, which left Mitsuha and Hiraoka as the last ones in the classroom besides Furakawa.

"Alright, let's go. Unless you have some business with sensei?"

"No, not really." It seemed like Hiraoka wanted to keep talking, so they began to move toward the door together as Furakawa gathered up his papers. They'd had a short break around halfway through the homeroom, in which Furakawa had come over and answered any questions she'd had. There hadn't been much to discuss really – school was school, the city and building may be different but everything else was pretty much the same. "If I have any problems or more questions I'll ask him next homeroom."

"You'll have to excuse the rest of the class, you'd think they'd be more interested given how few transfers we get." Hiraoka's frown conveyed exactly how she felt about the matter, but it wasn't such a big deal to Mitsuha.

"Don't worry about it, I didn't expect to just fit in right away after all. This was already a better welcome than at my last school."

As they left the class and made their through the corridors towards the main outer gates, Mitsuha managed to coerce a little more information about Hiraoka. Her first name was Akira, but she seemed to have some aversion to it, and it took some convincing to convince Hiraoka to call her 'Mitsuha' instead of 'Miyamizu-san'. She lived around 10 minutes' walk from the school and had lived in the area her whole life, but it seemed that she didn't like Tokyo that much. Although she tried to hide it, it was clear Hiraoka was very interested in the sort of country life Mitsuha used to lead, and she had to be careful to not give away too much that would link her to Itomori. The more she thought about it, the more ridiculous it seemed, keeping it from everyone – but she knew the attention she would garner would be a real pain, so until someone asked she'd just keep quiet about it.

Eventually they reached the mob of students leaving the gates and Hiraoka mumbled out a quick goodbye before turning and grabbing Mitsuha's sleeve. "If you need anything, you know…just ask, ok?" Her cheeks were going slightly red and her speech was almost fast enough to sound garbled. "I mean, it would be a pain to everyone if you kept your problems all to yourself, so don't be too shy." And with that, she turned on her heel and quickly disappeared into the crowd.

 _So she does have a cute side after all._ Mitsuha allowed herself an amused smile, already having lost her new friend in the ocean of identical uniforms.

Turning away, she began the walk back to the station, thinking back on her day. It hadn't been as hectic and eventful as she had anticipated, which was certainly a good thing. The class seemed friendly but not overly mothering, which was a good balance, and she had a few people she could call acquaintances at the very least. Turning the corner, the number of students began to dwindle, and Mitsuha allowed herself to relax. All was going well.

Suddenly there was the sound of running steps behind her, and a hand grabbed her shoulder, urgently yet with some gentleness. She could hear slightly ragged breathing, and turned around to see –

For a few seconds they simply stood, gazing into each other's eyes, he breathing heavily and she with eyes wide in incredulity. The boy let go of her shoulder before straightening slightly and calming his breathing, and Mitsuha felt her hand tingle. Without speaking, without saying a single word, both could tell exactly what the other was thinking.

"We…we've met before…haven't we?"

"Yes." A small smile had blossomed onto Mitsuha's face, growing larger with each passing second, and her voice began to break. "Yes, we have." It was but a second later that she saw the smile reflected back at her, not on the boy's face, but in his eyes, and Mitsuha knew that she'd finally found who she had been searching for.

Neither waiting for the other, both with the same burning desire, and yet with complete calmness, the handsome city boy and the country girl with the ribbon in her hair spoke at the exact same time the exact same words, the question whose answer for so many months they had yearned with all their hearts to know.

"What's your name?"

* * *

 **A/N**

 _"Kimi no namae wa."_ That final line has been in my head ever since I saw the film back in May (and in Britain's biggest IMAX, no less!) and this scene, along with one coming much later, were the main inspirations for this story. I hope I did it justice.

One year age difference + retake second year + move to Tokyo + writer's hand waving = same class! The equation that this story is based on has finally been completed, and we can now move onto the story proper.

Thank you for all the reviews, follows and favourites! I think I might begin to post slightly more often (2 chapters every 3 weeks or so) if I can be disciplined enough to stick to my schedule. In particular I would like to thank aysam . harits09 (FFN thinks that username is a link, hence the spacing) for correcting the name of the restaurant Taki works at. I have amended _La Boheme_ (the name of the real restaurant in Shinjuku, have a look on Google Maps) to _Il Giardino Delle Parole_ , which is Italian for _The Garden of Words_ , one of Shinkai Makoto's other well-received films. It's on Netflix so I'll probably watch it this weekend. Stay tuned and enjoy the story!

 _Talndir_

* * *

 **10/02/2019:** Fixed spelling error (thanks SpaceUnofficial!).


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"I'm Taki. Tachibana Taki."

The two stood facing one another, the rest of the world a fading backdrop. Ignoring the students around them, the boy and the girl looked into each other's faces, and long-forgotten feelings and memories began to slowly awaken.

"My name's Mitsuha, Miyamizu Mitsuha," the girl finally managed to reply. "I'm new here."

"I know." _Finally, I know. I know your name._ The unvoiced thoughts spoken between the lines couldn't have been clearer to the two. Taki suddenly had the urge to pull out a pen and write her name on his hand, just in case, and for a moment he was back on the mountain. The mountain he'd cried on at twilight…

For a few moments they simply stared at one another, absorbing all they could – the sight of her thick black hair tied with a red hand-braided ribbon, the sound of her voice, the brightness in her eyes…Taki memorised it all. He couldn't, _wouldn't_ , allow himself to forget. He still wasn't sure why he was so drawn to her, but it didn't matter – for now, simply knowing she was here was enough. For the first time in half a year, he felt at peace.

Now it was Taki's turn to be interrupted with a hand on _his_ shoulder, and the bubble around the two burst as they once again became aware of the world around them. Turning his head, Taki saw that it was Tsukasa – they were supposed to meet at the gates, but as soon as he saw that red ribbon his legs had carried him to the girl in front of him before he could think.

Tsukasa's eyes widened slightly in surprise as he regarded Mitsuha with curiosity. "Miyamizu-san?" His head turned back towards Taki as he removed his hand from his friend's shoulder. "Do you two…know each other?"

A simple question, yet neither truly knew the answer, and Taki scratched the back of his head involuntarily as an awkward look came to his face. "Um…I guess? I mean, technically we only just met…"

"What Taki-kun means is that we've seen each other before." Mitsuha was the first to properly regain her composure, and told the boy as much as either of them really knew. "At least, that's how it feels, but I can't remember where." She had an inkling – the mountain above the shrine and a Tokyo train came to mind, but she couldn't say for sure.

Tsukasa gave an interesting smile. "Taki-kun, huh? Yet you say you only just met." But he didn't press the point – it was more fun to tease anyway – and gestured forwards along the pavement. "Let's go. Takagi can't come so it's just us."

"Why isn't he coming?" Despite asking Tsukasa, Taki's eyes were still on Mitsuha, but his ever-observant friend pretended not to notice.

"His mum has to pop into town, so he needs to watch his little brother while she's gone."

"Oh, okay. That's too bad." A few moments of silence, and the three looked at each other blankly before Tsukasa finally broke the silence.

"Well?"

"Well, what?" Taki and Mitsuha asked in unison.

"…you guys are really slow on the ball, you know that?" Motioning towards Mitsuha, Tsukasa moved forward as he spoke over his shoulder. "Since Takagi isn't coming, we should invite the new girl along instead, right?"

It took him a few seconds to realise nobody was following him, and he chuckled internally as he turned to see a mirrored pair of surprised expressions. Outwardly he kept his composure, raised his eyebrows and crossed his arms – he had a reputation to keep, after all.

"Are you guys coming or not?"

〈◆〉

 _Today was not supposed to be like this._

… _Okay, that came out wrong._

Okudera-senpai had been ill, so it had been a perfect opportunity to skip the school entrance ceremony and induction, earn some extra money and get Okudera to owe him a favour. He knew Tsukasa liked her, so perhaps he could set something up between them; once up on a time he'd been interested in her too, although that had abruptly changed for some reason he couldn't quite remember. But now all thoughts of such machinations had fled his mind, as he sat in his favourite café with one of his best friends on one side and on the other…

It just felt too right. It was her, the girl whose life he had dreamed of, whose town he had lived in, whose name he had forgotten; she had recognised him, too, so there was no mistake. There was just one problem.

 _Awkward._

That was how he would describe this situation. To know her, and yet not know her – it was like wilfully ignoring someone you met a long time ago, pretending you don't know them and knowing they're doing the same, when suddenly you're forced to sit next to each other. And to make matters worse the too-smart-for-his-own-good Fujii Tsukasa was here, so if they said anything weird he'd pick it up right away, of that Taki had no doubt.

Vague feelings and memories, a word and a smile, that was all he had to go on. By Mitsuha's expression it was all she had as well, so despite them acknowledging each other there was still a strange fear – a fear that they were mistaken, that it was all a big trick of the mind and there really was nothing connecting them. That you would mention something important and the other would tilt their head with a blank look on their face and your hopes would just wither and die as you knew, you knew that they didn't know, that you were wrong all along, that it really was just a fantasy of the mind…

What Taki really needed was _time_. Time to think, consider, and come to a conclusion. Time alone with Mitsuha, so they could really talk things out when they were ready, if they even knew what to ask each other. Time to remember. As impulsive as he usually was, this was something he seriously didn't want to screw up.

But instead here he was, eating cake. And for a girl who had only just moved to Tokyo, Mitsuha knew the menu surprisingly well, and Taki had a feeling that wasn't the only strange thing about her. Oh what was he thinking, there's nothing _not_ strange about this whole encounter, her initial reaction to seeing him all but confirmed it!

So lost was he in his own thoughts that Taki barely noticed his friend talking to him.

"Takagi's been moved to a different class." Taki looked up to see Tsukasa fork the last bite of his tart and pop it into his mouth.

"Heh, I guessed at least one of us would be moved out."

"After three years, the probability of all three of us staying together was just too low." Tsukasa agreed as he set down his fork.

"So how much of the class is the same?" Taki glanced at Mitsuha to make sure she wasn't feeling left out, but she was somehow managing to simultaneously scoff down her profiteroles and pay attention to their conversation.

"I'd say around seventy percent. It's class three, by the way." Leaning back slightly, the boy looked at his friend with a slight smile. "And since Masamoto-sensei left at the end of last year, we've got Furakawa-sensei for homeroom now." That would get Taki's attention.

"Furakawa! Oh man, this year is gonna be so chill…what am I saying, of course it's not, there's no way final year is going to be anything but mayhem…" Taki's voice dropped an octave as his enthusiasm was stopped by the harsh wall of reality. "Well at least old Furakawa will make it a bit less intense. Maybe." Glancing towards Mitsuha's plate, he saw that the girl had somehow managed to inhale her entire, rather massive, dessert before he'd got even halfway through his. _She's going to inhale my wallet too at this rate…wait, I'm not paying for her again! I've had enough of that for one lifetime…_

Confused at his own thoughts (Again? I've never been here with her before!) he managed to miss the first half of whatever Mitsuha had said to Tsukasa.

"…seem nice enough. Besides, I'd expected it to be a little less welcoming here in the city. That's from experience, by the way."

"So you didn't have a good time in Ikebukuro then?" Fujii asked, and once again Taki became thoroughly confused – he had got the distinct impression Mitsuha was from a town in the country somewhere. But now she was saying she was from Tokyo?

"It was only a year, but it felt like way longer. In a bad way. Well, at least you guys are nice. There was that other girl, Akane I think? She was pretty friendly. And Hiraoka, although she seems a bit-"

Taki almost spat out his last piece of cake, before coughing somewhat violently and eventually swallowing. _That_ had certainly got their attention. His next words came out slightly hoarsely before he coughed and started once again.

"Hiraoka? As in Hiraoka Akira? Are you mad?" Mitsuha's expression was one of slight shock, and next to her Taki could hear his good friend sigh in discontent – he could already see the head shake of disapproval in his mind's eye but paid it no mind, choosing to instead focus his attention on the foolish girl in front of him.

"What's wrong with Hiraoka?" Mitsuha inquired as calmly as she could with Taki's terrified face staring at her.

"What's wrong with her?" Taki leaned in, looked his new (old?) friend directly in the eyes, and spoke in a harsh whisper the strongest deterrent he could possibly warn her with.  
"She's absolutely bonkers, is what."

A few seconds of silence followed this incredible revelation, before Tsukasa sighed once again, and Mitsuha opted to join him, adding an eye roll for good measure.

"What? Tell her Tsukasa! You know it as well as I do!" The look on the boy's face was almost pleading as he asked his friend to come to his aid.

"Taki's overreacting. She's a bit…odd. But who isn't?" Seeing that his audience wasn't quite satisfied with this explanation, he elaborated. "The thing with Hiraoka is, her mind is too sharp to know what to do with itself – smart, but not very sociable, if you get what I mean. She ends up being quite blunt, and what she finds funny often tends to be borderline insulting to others. The phrase 'brutally honest' comes to mind."

"…I think I already know what you mean." By now Mitsuha was nodding in earnest and had already forgotten Taki's warning. "She was quite…it's kind of hard to describe…"

"You don't understand! She's dangerous! She must not be considered an acquaintance, let alone a friend!" Taki was practically begging her by this point, and Mitsuha was fairly confused at his extreme views on who she could only describe as a fairly ordinary classmate.

"Taki is somewhat prejudiced in this matter." Fujii adjusted his glasses and folded his arms over his chest, gaining an almost lecture-like aura. "You see, one day last year Taki borrowed one of Hiraoka's pens since he had forgotten his pencil case. However, he lost it-"

"It was only a pen! Over a single pen, she went and did…did THAT!"

"Did what?" Now Mitsuha was beginning to get slightly concerned – this story seemed to be going somewhere quite ominous…

"In chemistry class the following day, we were conducting experiments to create hydrogen gas – mixing zinc with an acid." Tsukasa stepped in to explain while Taki's face twitched in recollection. "Well, it appears that Hiraoka swapped Taki's zinc with three times the amount of magnesium…"

"Don't tell me – she put so much in that it actually…?" Mitsuha had always been good at the physical sciences, so she knew that if he corked the test tube and that much gas was generated then…

"It didn't explode, if that's what you're thinking." Taki's voice was hollow with defeat. "The cork blew off with a massive bang, the tube fell over and the acid spilt out and burnt a hole in my lab book." Taki's head dropped onto the table with a thud, barely missing his plate. "Of course, when sensei came over and saw the half-reacted pieces of magnesium he was pretty angry. Not only did I have to rewrite my entire hundred-page lab book out again, I also had to spend two hours every night for two weeks cleaning the labs. Nearly got fired when I told my manager why I couldn't come to work for a fortnight."

Mitsuha just sat where she was, wide-eyed for a few seconds, before leaning back in her chair…and almost exploding with laughter.

"Oh my goodness! That's…that's just too…too funny…!" Mitsuha could barely control herself, and Tsukasa's eyebrows raised in surprise, as did Taki's head. "What…what a genius…I bet you went and bought her a hundred new pens the very next day!"

"It's not a joke you know! This is serious! How can you laugh at such a terrifying event?! And yes, I did buy her some new pens, just ensure my own safety!"

"It was pretty funny though…" said Tsukasa, a smile slowly materialising on his face.

"Hey, whose side are you on?" Taki's head once more landed on the table, this time accompanied by a small 'ow' that only served as amusement to the spectators. "Oh, you two are hopeless!" And yet, despite himself, the corners of Taki's mouth twitched ever so slightly upward.

〈◇〉

Before the three had noticed, it was already afternoon and Taki had another shift at work – his own this time, not Okudera's. The three left the café and split up, each going their separate ways and promising to talk again tomorrow.

Mitsuha walked slowly along the pavement, humming a tune inside her head. Despite the slightly awkward start, she had got on really well with both of the boys, and it gave her a feeling of warmth and weightlessness in the centre of her chest.

Prior to moving to Ikebukuro she'd been sure she would easily make friends at whichever school she ended up at. It wasn't that she had been popular in Itomori – her status as both the mayor's daughter and a shrine maiden had set a fair few classmates against her – but the majority of the kids her age had been friendly with her, and she'd had Tessie and Sayaka as close friends.

But then they had moved, and she had started at that school in Ikebukuro, and she had made _not one single friend_. Sure, there were a couple of people who were friendly with her, but most of them were one year older and generally had no real interest in her. She'd got her fair share of attention when she mentioned she was from Itomori around one month in, but it was all over in a couple of weeks and then it was back to normal – back to being alone. Solidarity wasn't something Mitsuha was used to, and certainly not something she was comfortable with.

So it was no wonder she had been fairly anxious about starting at Jingu.

But things had progressed far more smoothly than she had anticipated. First there was Hiraoka, who noticed she was new and helped her out. Okay, so she was a bit blunt…and fairly dangerous…but so what? A friend is a friend, right? And being the most helpful person to her on her first day scored the girl some serious brownie points as far as Mitsuha was concerned. Not that the rest of the class were bad – they seemed genuinely friendly, just not that interested. Well, Mitsuha could live with that. As far as she was concerned, being interested and being nosy were two sides of the same coin. Fujii was also really nice, Akane had seemed really excited to meet her, and then there was Taki…

There was no doubt in her mind – he was the one she had been looking for, the missing link to her memories, memories she desperately wanted back. There were two major things Mitsuha found extremely strange about the Itomori incident, and both would be solved if only she could remember what had happened.

The first was that it was apparently _her_ who had convinced her dad to evacuate the town. Nobody really told her anything else other than that – everything leading up to her opening her eyes in the hospital was one big blur. There was something about the power station and some sort of hijacking of the town hall's announcement system mentioned at one point, but nobody bothered to fill in the details for her, and she hadn't particularly cared – her town had just been decimated by a meteorite, after all.

The second strange event was her spontaneous trip to Tokyo one day prior. This was perhaps even more vexing than being told she had predicted the following day's events, funnily enough. Being so impulsive was very unlike her – but then, so was running off in the middle of Tokyo to visit a random school, and so was recognising a boy she'd never met before. Which led Mitsuha to make what most would consider a rather large shot in the dark; that the reason she had come to Tokyo-

-the reason she had come all the way to the capital-  
-the reason she had skipped a day of school without telling anyone but her sister-  
-the reason she had taken such an impromptu journey the day before her town was destroyed-

-must have been to learn more about the comet! It all made sense now!

Mitsuha's eyes widened and footsteps came to a halt as she considered the evidence that supported her theory. All the records of Miyamizu shrine had been destroyed in a fire two centuries ago, so all the history behind the shrine's rituals and inception had been lost. But everyone in the town knew that the lake was formed by a meteorite impact, that was what the town was known for after all. She must have made the link between the meteorite from 1,200 years ago and comet Tiamat last year and gone to the National Diet Library here in Tokyo to see if they had any old records. And then once she'd found out that the meteorite from back then had fallen from the same comet that was passing by Earth at that very moment, she had gone back to warn everyone!

The gears of her imagination spinning wildly, an excited smile took root on her face and she nearly laughed aloud. Things were finally coming together; the mystery was being solved! After a year and a half she finally had a lead on what had happened during the gaps in her memory. And it was all thanks to meeting Taki!

Mitsuha was so delighted by this brilliant piece of deductive reasoning, she skipped all the way to the station, and her smile lit up the dark city streets like a second moon.

〈◆〉

Taki ponderously made his way home, and almost got hit by a bus.

The reason Taki had nearly become half a smear on the road (the other half would have been on the front of the bus) was that his mind was very much occupied with a certain girl. It would have been better for his health had it been instead occupied with his own mortality, but such is the state of Taki's mind.

For the last three hours he had been working on his feet, taking orders, setting and clearing cutlery and delivering food to dozens of tables. Not only that, but he had done the same in the morning, then met Mitsuha, then had cake with her of all things, paid for her food (and Tsukasa's) and rushed back to the restaurant…the day had been rather eventful. Not to mention the glass and two plates he had broken in his second shift.

He was tired. Not just physically tired, but also mentally tired. He had done far too much thinking. Taki was a boy who relied mostly on instinct and gut feeling. Sure he was intelligent, but the way he used that intelligence was to make fairly reasonable snap decisions, not to spend hours poring over every little detail – which was exactly what he was doing right now and had been doing since noon.

The problem was that he didn't want to sound like a complete idiot in front of Mitsuha. If he was wrong, things would get pretty weird, pretty fast. Not that they weren't already weird, but they would get even _weirder_. And then Fujii had to get in the way too, so he hadn't got a chance to talk to Mitsuha alone, and it would be kind of out of character for him to ask to speak to her after school tomorrow – people would think something weird was going on. Which there was, technically, but it definitely wasn't what they would think it was!

He really should just go up to her and ask her tomorrow – before school, during lunch, any time he could, everyone else's opinions be damned. That was the easiest course of action, and for Taki it was also the most natural. The problem was what to ask – because he didn't really know himself. He didn't have anything concrete to go on, and he couldn't rely on Mitsuha approaching him and asking the right questions either, that kind of wait-and-see tactic would get both of them nowhere. Assuming she really did know him, and she really did want to solve this mystery. If there even was a mystery. If he wasn't just crazy…

For the last six months, Taki had been actively struggling with his memories and feelings. Ever since he'd found himself screaming into the sky on that mountain at Itomori things had just felt wrong, and he'd had far too much time to reflect on it. For a start, he had absolutely no clue why he had gone there. Okudera and Tsukasa had gone with him, but apparently all he'd told them was that he was looking for a place that he'd drawn some sketches of, and that place had ended up being Itomori.

On his return Taki had kind of mellowed out for a few months. His ferocity and boisterousness disappeared, and his desire to fly away from the city and into the beautiful countryside only amplified. More and more he found himself daydreaming, staring out the window and just watching the clouds go by, dreaming about a life that wasn't his own, memories that could never have happened forgotten at the moment of waking.

His friends had been worried, at first. But now that the new school year had come around he had resolved to ditch the fantasies and strange feelings and revert to his usual self. Over the short school holiday he had spent more time working, brushed up on his studies and moulded back into his old personality. But the dreams never stopped, and neither did the obsession about Itomori. And above all, the sensation of having a part of him missing never left him for a moment. He tried to put it all behind him, for his own sake, but as a person largely driven by emotion, such a task was just not in his nature.

Now along comes this girl and brings it all back. Well, he's endured it for this long, he can wait a little longer. After all, it won't all resolve itself at once. For now he'll be passive. He's one of her first friends here, there's plenty of time to get to know each other and work things out. And above all, he didn't want to feel like he had some sort of hidden agenda. He genuinely liked her as a person, and the last thing Taki wanted was to manipulate her for his own means – that was something he absolutely would not tolerate from himself.

Taki's mind was made up. He would forget all about it for now and get on with his life as normal. If Mitsuha was somehow related to his dreams then it would all come out eventually. And if not…

…if not, he would just forget all about it. Or try to, anyway.

〈◆〉

Taki climbed the stairs and stopped to get his keys from his bag. Unlocking the door, he heard the sound of sizzling and it took only a few seconds after stepping inside before the smell of noodles filled his nostrils. "I'm home!" he called in a flat voice before removing his shoes and entering the kitchen, bag in hand. "I thought I was going to be late."

"Nah, it's still got a few minutes to go." Taki's dad stood over the stove, the handle of a wok in one hand and a wooden spatula in the other. "My fault really, I should have started cooking earlier, but I guess if we're both late then everybody's on time, right?" He gave his son a small grin as he stirred the food.

"Heh, I'll try that one on Furakawa-sensei, he's always late." Moving back to the hallway, he opened his bedroom door and lightly tossed his bag onto his bed, where it landed with a barely audible 'flump'.

"Speaking of Furakawa, I got a call from him today. Apparently you weren't in this morning." His tone was carefully neutral – after all, it wasn't like he wasn't aware of his son's rather frequent skipping of school. But he couldn't really complain, since half the money Taki earned he willingly (and insistently) put towards bills and other expenses; as his father he had naturally objected at first, but it was not an insignificant amount of money given his own rather small salary. As much as he wanted to force his son to go to school, there were more…practical concerns to consider. But he hadn't been aware Taki would be skipping today's entrance ceremony.

"A co-worker was ill, so I covered for her."

"You know, you don't have to put so much pressure on yourself. You can stop taking every extra shift and take some time for yourself."

"I do take plenty of time for myself." Taki busied himself with setting the table. "Besides, it's not like anything important ever happens on the first day anyway, I've been through it all loads of times before." As he took a seat his dad entered with the noodles in a ceramic dish and set it down in the centre of the table before sitting down himself.

Taki was very much a carbon copy of his father's younger self – the same face, hair and eyes, and an almost identical height, with only a few centimetres marking the difference between father and son. However, the elder Tachibana was better built and wore glasses, which changed the overall look enough to make them seem significantly more different than they actually were.

"Itadakimasu." Saying the customary Japanese thank you in tandem, they both dived into their meal, and there was little conversation until both plates were close to empty.

"So what did you do after school? Before your main shift, I mean. I assume you weren't working all day solid?" He couldn't help injecting some worry into his voice at that last question.

"No, I went with some friends to a café."

"Fujii-kun and Shinta-kun?" The usual suspects.

"Actually Takagi couldn't come today, he had something to help out with at home, I forget the details. But instead Tsukasa invited a new girl along." Finishing off his food, Taki watched his father over the rim of his bowl to gauge his reaction.

"A girl? Heh, about time you started growing a pair. Back when I was your age I was already-"

"Dad! Those are NOT stories I want to hear!" As his father laughed at his son's embarrassment and discomfort, Taki saw the amusement in his eyes but refused to play along. "She's just a new classmate, transferred in from…from the country." He had almost said 'from Itomori', and for a second his hands froze up, before he carefully placed his bowl on the table. The three of them had talked about a fair few things that afternoon, but one thing that hadn't been brought up in detail was where Mitsuha had moved from, and yet the words had almost slipped right out.

"Hey, you alright? Uh, it was just a joke, you know?" Now his dad really did have concern in his voice as he looked closely at his son's troubled face.

"Ah, it's nothing. Just thinking about today."

"About the girl?"

"Dad!"

〈◆〉

After Taki cleared the table and washed up – the two family members always took turns with cooking and cleaning – he had a quick bath before changing into his nightwear, a loose pair of shorts and a t-shirt, since it was already getting into the evening. With a bit of time left before bed, he decided he wanted to do some more sketching tonight. Putting away the beginnings of a country moonrise he had started drawing a few days earlier, Taki brought out a fresh sheet of paper and sharpened his pencils before settling down to do the basic outline.

Within around fifteen minutes he had the basics of his scene – three friends at a table in a café, with recently emptied plates before them and an early afternoon sun settling on their figures at an aesthetic angle. There was a boy sitting upright, a girl leaning back in her chair and laughing, and another boy with his head and hands laid in defeat on the table before him. Now, which to start with…

Taki's mind slowed, his eyes drifting closed, but his hands never tired, and soon one of the three figures on the paper began to take striking form.

* * *

 **A/N**

Mitsuha's jumping to conclusions, please laugh at her.

So Taki may seem a bit OOC here, and it's kind of deliberate – I think that in the short-term Taki would probably be much more heavily affected than Mitsuha, especially since he gets one less year than her to get over everything. He's also much more reliant on his heart than his mind, and seeing how he acted at the end of the film got me thinking that he probably changed a lot as a person after the Itomori incident, more than Mitsuha at least. But don't worry, he won't stay logical for long; he wouldn't be Taki if he did!

For the reviewer asking for more Taki, here you go! It should be around a 65/35 split between Mitsuha and Taki throughout the story, but it all depends on how things go.

Also, I got the chapter out early as I said I would! I think two chapters every three weeks is doable for me, so that will be the schedule from now on. See you in ten days!

 _Talndir_


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Taki slapped at his bedside table before finally finding his phone and turning the bleeping alarm off. He'd deliberately set it to something as annoying as possible to force him to get up. Fat lot of good that did when he could turn it off without even getting out of bed! Yet somehow, he was at least disciplined enough to be on time for school. Sure, he skipped afternoon classes for work sometimes, but you can't be late if you don't turn up at all…

For some reason, he felt more groggy than usual this morning. Sitting up and rubbing his face, he looked around his room and remembered why he was so sleepy. He'd fallen asleep at his desk in the middle of a new sketch, and had woken up a few hours later to find he'd almost crumpled the paper with his sleeping body. Luckily there was only a minor fold in one corner, his progress so far just as he had left it.

Pulling his covers off himself, he went to the bathroom to wash his face and get dressed. Since his dad worked from home he often ended up working through the night and getting up long after Taki had left for school. Today was no exception, so Taki made himself some eggs and toast for breakfast as he tried to remember what he had dreamed about the previous night. They'd had noodles the previous night which meant no leftover rice, so he also put a cup into the rice cooker for lunch.

 _That's strange, I almost always have a dream of some sort. But I can't remember a thing this morning._ It was unusual for Taki not to dream about, well, whatever it was he dreamed about. The problem was that while he knew he always dreamed about the same things each night, he could never remember them in any detail. Ever since Itomori he'd been getting these recurring dreams and would sometimes try to draw what he remembered once he woke, but for once his mind was absolutely clear.

Cleaning the dishes, making lunch, brushing his teeth – it was the usual routine. Yet as Taki grabbed his bag and checked everything was inside, he felt as though something had changed. Glancing over at his desk, he put down his bag and moved closer. To be honest, he couldn't even remember what he was drawing when he fell asleep, but a quick inspection told him it was a scene from the day before. Rough outlines of a café decked with tables and chairs, two boys sitting in front of empty plates…

…and a girl, leaning back and laughing. Her face was still a simple oval and a few lightly sketched lines, but her hair was a book of details. The black locks, elegantly tied up into a style no-one but her could pull off, fastened with a hand-crafted ribbon whose method of braiding had been passed down through the Miyamizu family for over a millennium. Even while half asleep he had given that ribbon more detail than anyone but its creator or owner could know, and both of those happened to be Mitsuha herself.

Perhaps he had been dreaming after all.

〈◆〉

It was only a few minutes' walk from the flat Taki shared with his father to Shinanomachi station, where he would beard the Chuo line going west, then change at Yoyogi to go south until-

That hair. It was there. Right in front of him, just along the carriage. The hair with the braided cord, the one he'd drawn, the girl whose name he didn't know…wait a minute. He does know her name, and _it's Mitsuha, there's no reason to panic so much, calm down Taki, you met her yesterday, no, you met her long before that, back when the dreams started…_

Taki waded through the other passengers entering the carriage and, after rudely pushing past some older men, ended up just next to Mitsuha, who was trying to find a handhold before the train started moving. He lightly tapped her on one shoulder, and as she turned to look at him her ribbon disappeared from view to be replaced by a face of mild surprise.

"Taki-kun?" the surprised face asked, as the train doors closed.

"Good morning, Mitsuha. I didn't realise you took this train." Taki spoke the first reasonable thing that came to mind, since in true Tachibana fashion he had not planned this conversation _at all_.

"I live quite close to here, in 3-chome, Yoyogi. It's the closest station."

"Ah, so that's where you live. I'm in Shinjuku, so I come along Chuo and then change here." Yoyogi, huh? He'd forgotten to ask where she'd moved to yesterday, or he would've known she'd take this route. "Near the park?"

"Yeah, quite close, Yotsuha really-" The next sound to come out of the girl's mouth was more of a small 'eep' than an actual word as the train jerked forward and began its journey south, accelerating rapidly. Mitsuha, having been distracted by Taki at precisely the wrong moment, ended up with nothing to hold on to and fell rather ungracefully right into Taki's chest. Luckily for them both, he was born and bred in Tokyo and had the instincts that came with frequent subway travel - one hand steadied the girl leaning against him while the other snatched out to grab a metal rail just above and behind his head, keeping them both from falling over in an undignified heap.

Mitsuha looked up at her saviour with slightly red cheeks, and they looked at each other a moment before she stepped back and opted to hold Taki's arm for support. "Sorry about that. You don't mind if I…"

"Ah, er, not at all." Mitsuha looked away from him awkwardly, and the pair fell into an uncomfortable silence, with only the noise of the train and a couple hundred fellow passengers to keep them company. The train slowed and stopped, the doors opened, passengers boarded and alit, the doors shut once again and they continued on their way. Taki's thoughts didn't stray far from the girl holding his arm, and eventually he couldn't contain himself anymore.

"Do you remember me?" Taki blurted out.

The world blurred and faded away, and only the two of them remained, as Mitsuha looked up to see the serious and vulnerable look on the otherwise calm face of the boy she was holding onto. Driven by impulse and emotion, Taki had asked the question on both of their minds, and neither were truly ready for it.

"I…I…" Mitsuha struggled to form the words, as she didn't yet know what her answer was. In truth, she couldn't even explain the meaning of the question were someone to ask her. Just then, the train began to turn and the noise amplified threefold, obliterating any chance of conversation between the two.

Taki looked into Mitsuha's sad eyes, before moving his gaze down to her mouth, trying to read the words her lips were forming. He could already imagine her mouthing a 'no' – what she was saying no to, he couldn't be sure. Was it 'I don't know'? Was it 'I don't understand'? Was it…was it, 'I don't remember'? Yet as Mitsuha's strengthening grip on his shoulder brought him back to reality, he saw no words, only tears in the corners of her eyes and a nodding, slightly smiling face. And as the train straightened, slowed and quietened, pulling into Shibuya station, she pulled herself closer to him and explained in a bittersweet tone.

"I see you in my dreams. I just wish I could remember them."

〈◇〉

Mitsuha and Taki entered the classroom together. They had walked in companionable silence since they had left the train, comfortable in the knowledge that whatever bond they felt they shared was real, even if they didn't understand it. To simply have those feelings acknowledged was enough, for now.

"Do you know where I sit, Mitsuha?" Taki asked, glancing around the half-full classroom. "I wasn't here yesterday, I'm assuming you already did all the seating and stuff?"

"Yeah, I think you sit there." Mitsuha pointed at a desk near the centre of the room, second row from the front. "It was the only empty one yesterday." Moving towards her own desk, she put her bag down and began to unpack her things. There were only a few minutes until first period, and she wanted to make a good impression.

"Good morning." Mitsuha had been so absorbed in her own thoughts, she almost missed Hiraoka's greeting.

"Ah, good morning Hiraoka. I didn't notice you." Taking her seat, Mitsuha looked over to see Hiraoka looking at her slightly strangely, with a hint of concern in her face.

"I couldn't help but notice that you were talking to Tachibana earlier." She leaned in, and her face became serious as she lowered her voice. "You know, you should be careful around him. He's trouble, and even more so than usual these past few months. I'd advise keeping your distance."

Mitsuha smiled a cheeky smile. "That's funny, he said the same about you. In fact, he and Fujii told me a _hilarious_ story about you two." She had to contain her laughter as the other girl's eyebrows shot up her forehead, nearly disappearing behind her fringe. Just then, the door closed and Mitsuha glanced across to see the teacher had arrived. Both girls leaned back into their seats, one with confused and troubled eyes, the other with amusement written all over her face.

〈◇〉

After a pretty useless fifteen minutes of homeroom, the class had two fairly relaxed lessons, taking them to eleven o'clock. Since it was the first lesson of each subject, the teachers were generally quite laid-back and ended up mostly going over last year's material, quickly running through the coming year's curriculum and checking who would be applying for their subject at university later in the year. For Mitsuha this meant making sure she knew everything that was expected of her and asking about anything she hadn't covered when she'd retaken her second year.

Usually classes ran until twelve, there was a one-hour lunch break, and then three more classes until four, but today there seemed to be an extra hour's break for some reason.

"Hey Hiraoka, why are classes stopping early? I thought lunch wasn't until midday." Mitsuha turned to the girl who sat next to her, slightly confused at all the students getting up and chatting when there should be their next teacher coming along any minute. "Is it to do with why so many students are absent today?"

"They're not absent, they're running the club activities fair. On the second day of term there's always an extended lunch break to give everyone enough time to have a look around." Hiraoka stood as she spoke. "It's mainly for first-years, to show them what kind of clubs are on offer. I don't know about the school you came from, but here clubs aren't compulsory, although you are generally expected to join one. Most third-years drop out because of entrance exams, but it's still worth having a look."

"Wow, I had no idea. Are there that many clubs that they need so much time to show them all?" Mitsuha stood as well and followed Hiraoka out the classroom with the other students, and joined the crowd making its way to the main yard at the front of the school. "My school was pretty small, so we didn't have that many clubs."

"How big was it?"

"Around 250 students, maybe? I don't know the exact number."

"That's pretty small for a senior high school, you'll be lucky to find one around here with less than twice that."

"Oh no, that wasn't the senior high, that was everything."

Hiraoka stopped in the middle of the busy corridor and turned to face her blissfully ignorant country friend. "What do you mean, everything? It was a combined junior and senior high? That's even smaller then!"

"No, I mean everything. Elementary, middle, and junior and senior high schools." By now people were starting to glare at them. "We really shouldn't just stand here like this, it's blocking everyone's way…"

"Twelve grades?!" Hiraoka nearly shouted, causing even _more_ glares, and Mitsuha began to mutter apologies to nearby students as she attempted to physically turn her friend around and get her moving. "Twelve grades with 250 students total? That's one, no, less than one full class per grade!" She'd finally managed to get the girl moving, albeit at a snail's pace. "That averages at twenty students per grade, which means if we take the average lifespan to be eighty years old then that means…"

Hiraoka stopped once again in the middle of the corridor and Mitsuha had to suppress her frustration as she began to once again try to bodily push her along. Then the other girl turned with her eyes wide.

"Sixteen hundred?! That was the population of your entire town?"

"Fifteen hundred actually, and can we please stop with the shouting? It's kind of annoying everyone."

"I knew you were from the country, but I guess I had no idea. You really do come from the middle of nowhere…"

"You were right, Taki. So very right about her," Mitsuha muttered as she finally lost her patience and literally dragged Hiraoka along by the arm.

〈◇〉

Just inside the school's entrance, in the gym and across the tennis courts were stalls representing every single club at Jingu high. Run by second- and third-years, their goal was simple: attract as many freshers as they could and grow their club's numbers. Each stall varied greatly – some of the smaller clubs simply had a desk and banner with a few flyers to hand out, while the sports clubs boasted much larger groups of students with some live martial arts demonstrations and even competitions.

After Hiraoka had recovered from her revelation as to how small some parts of her country really were, she accompanied Mitsuha around the stalls. In truth, she was simply accompanying her because the alternative would mean having a two-hour lunch break completely alone, but at least part of her genuinely wanted to show off the variety at her school. Not that it was particularly difficult to boast to Mitsuha – the school was almost the size of her entire town, after all.

Mitsuha was definitely impressed, mainly by the sheer size and numbers. Back in Itomori they had barely enough students in the football club to field an entire team, let alone six different martial arts clubs and multiple teams for several different sports! Not to mention the incredible variety in both the academic and cultural clubs. Despite being in her final year, Mitsuha was as excited as the first-years and really wanted to join a club , just to get the full Japanese high school experience. However, she was worried about time commitments – and rightly so, as many clubs demanded attendance after school every day and throughout the holidays as well.

Hiraoka could read the conflict in her new friend's face all too well; it was a dilemma she had been in herself since she'd joined the school two years ago. It wasn't that she had that much to do outside school, but rather that the time necessitated would become too restricting and she would have to ditch the club just to get her own life back. Aware of the problems worrying Mitsuha's thoughts, she made sure to direct her towards some of the more laid-back clubs available.

"Most of the clubs in here don't need much commitment – a few two-hour meetings a week, probably nothing over the summer or winter holidays." Hiraoka advised Mitsuha on the best clubs to satisfy her needs as she guided her into the school gym. "They'll also be fairly relaxed about attendance since you're already a third-year."

Mitsuha looked over at Hiraoka as they entered the building together. "What about you, Hiraoka? Were you part of any clubs last year? Will you be joining anything this time?" The stalls were arranged in a large rectangle with some more in the centre, and the two girls began to orbit around the edges of the room as Mitsuha briefly examined each one.

"I was in the tea ceremony club for two years. It was three two-hour meetings a week, and the teacher who ran it was-" Before she could continue, Mitsuha firmly cut her off with a sharpness she hadn't seem from her before.

"No thanks, I've already had my fair share of ceremonies, tea included, and I'm not about to volunteer to do more." She'd already spent her entire life so far as a shrine maiden, she hadn't moved to Tokyo to do even more boring rituals and ceremonies!

Hiraoka raised an eyebrow at Mitsuha's sudden outburst and displeased face. "…Okay, well nobody's forcing you. I didn't expect you were trained in that sort of thing though."

"More than you know, and _far_ more than I would like."

Mitsuha continued past more stalls, Hiraoka falling behind as she thought on what her friend had just said. They passed more clubs, none of them really catching Mitsuha's eye – drama, calligraphy, literature, broadcasting…

…literature? That seemed interesting. She'd never been that keen of a reader, but Japanese language and literature were subjects she enjoyed and had already considered studying at university. Besides, if it was just a reading club, it should be pretty lax about, well, everything really. Just read some books in your own time, check in with the club once or twice a week, maybe discuss whatever you'd read or recommend new material to each other – it seemed the perfect way to kill some time without shackling yourself to a demanding schedule.

At the stall was a boy Mitsuha didn't recognise, but he noticed her looking over and gave her a shy smile. Leaving Hiraoka trailing behind her, she went over to talk to the boy.

"Hi, are you interested in joining the literature club?" He was clearly a bit nervous, and some of that nervousness rubbed off on Mitsuha as she asked him about the club's activities.

She'd been mostly right – the club met twice a week, collectively decided which books to read and then gave a reasonable number of chapters to read between each meeting. There they would discuss what they'd read and talk about anything they found interesting in broader literature. The club was of a fair size, with around thirty members last year and the same expected turnout this year. However, along with reading:

"Wait, you write as well?" Mitsuha found herself unreasonably surprised; it was only natural that those interested in reading would also want to try their hand at writing, they were two sides of the same coin after all.

"Yes, we write short stories and poetry." The boy had got more comfortable talking to her, and his excitement was beginning to show. "Personally, I find the creative aspect of writing your own fiction to be far more enjoyable than simply enjoying others' work, although of course a writer must always be consuming new and varied forms of literature," he nodded wisely.

While they had been chatting, Hiraoka had appeared beside Mitsuha, looking slightly bored. "They write a book every year and present it at the cultural festival. Last year was a book of poetry; it was okay, nothing fantastic. Not that I'm a poetry connoisseur or anything."

"You seem like quite the reading type actually, Hiraoka. Why didn't you join?" Mitsuha suggested.

"I prefer to keep my reading to myself, and my writing too."

"Ah, so you write? What kind of writing do you do?" the boy interjected, fishing for a potential new member.

Hiraoka's face went slightly red, and she looked away in dignified embarrassment, or as close to it as one can get. "…you didn't hear that."

 _Hehe, I won't forget this, my friend._ It seemed the brusque girl had some interesting sides to her, and Mitsuha wasn't about to let this valuable information go that easily. But there were more pressing matters to attend to – Mitsuha was completely uninterested in writing herself, and publishing in a book with the other students of the club seemed very intimidating. But at the same time, reading other people's work and helping them improve sounded surprisingly fun.

"Do you, um, have to write? I mean, can you join and only do the reading?" Mitsuha fiddled with her hands, still unsure about whether to join or not. If she had to write, then it was a definite no, but if there was a choice then she may still give it a shot. Out of all the clubs she'd seen, the sports clubs could be dismissed immediately, followed by anything about Japanese culture or heritage, and finally narrowed even more by time commitment. For some reason, she really wanted to join a club and be a part of something bigger, and this seemed to be one of the only clubs to fit the bill.

"Well…" the boy began, and Mitsuha's heart sank. "I suppose we are primarily a literature club, so reading and discussing existing literature is our main objective. I don't think anyone will mind if you would rather not contribute directly to the book, but of course you will then have to help in other ways. Yes, in fact the student who did all the formatting for the poetry book has left now, so perhaps you can fill that role…"

"So I can join and not write? It's just, that's not something I'm too interested in."

"Yes, I'm sure no-one will object."

 _I'll quote you on that if I have to_ , Mitsuha thought. "So when do you meet?"

"Mondays and Thursdays, after school in class 2-1. We usually start with one-hour meetings, but they tend to get longer as we begin to plan for the book and the cultural festival."

"There are no clubs first week anyway, so you can decide next Monday whether you want to go or not." Hiraoka had recovered from her earlier slip-up and was tapping one foot impatiently, probably eager to go and eat her lunch.

"Alright then, I'll decide by then. Thanks," she said to the boy before turning away and walking quickly to catch up to Hiraoka's furious pace.

"So, Hiraoka, you do some writing of your own?" Hiraoka seemed the type to mainly keep to herself and not leak much of her personal life to others, so Mitsuha was definitely going to ruthlessly tease her with any interesting information she could get.

"Don't even start. You should just forget you ever heard that." Her face was down and her eyes narrow, and the girl began to pick up her pace even more. Mitsuha hurried after her.

"It's nothing to be ashamed about. You could join too, you know."

"I said forget about it!" Hiraoka snapped at Mitsuha under her breath, quietly but still with some force. If she was this upset over it, it was probably best to drop the issue. She'd rather not push it too much if it was something sensitive, although why it would be so touchy was beyond her. Even if you didn't show anyone what you wrote, there was nothing embarrassing about others knowing about it, right?

Except there was, Mitsuha realised. After all, hadn't she been in the same position herself? She had been a _miko_ , a shrine maiden, and she had despised how everyone had known about it. By itself it wouldn't have been so bad but combined with her dad's position as mayor it had made life pretty trying at times. A lot of adults seemed to think it was a great honour and a fantastic opportunity to be involved in both the culture and politics of Itomori, but unlike her sister, Mitsuha found the whole thing to be annoying and socially difficult.

The worst was when people she knew from school would come to see her and Yotsuha perform their rituals at the shrine. The ancient dances and costumes were bad enough, but it didn't end there – every year they had to make _kuchikamizake_ , alcohol made by fermenting rice with virgin spit. Knowing that some of her classmates were watching her chew rice and spit it into a pot was almost unbearable, and she'd had to do it annually since she was a young child.

No wonder she wanted to avoid any kind of ceremony club like the plague. And while sharing your writing was understandably uncomfortable, Mitsuha could appreciate why many would prefer to keep quiet about even the fact that they write at all.

"I'm sorry. It's embarrassing for people to know stuff like that about you – I know that better than most. I won't bring it up again."

Hiraoka slowed her walking to a normal pace and looked up at Mitsuha; her tone of voice had surprised her. And sure enough, her face had become serious, and her eyes had lost their previous amusement. Hiraoka filed this information away for later and decided to change the subject to something lighter.

"Earlier, in the classroom, you mentioned something about Tachibana; something to do with me. What were you referring to? I don't recall ever doing anything noteworthy with that boy."

"Ah, that." Mitsuha's smile returned, and she looked over at Hiraoka again. "Fujii-san told me all about it. About how you got back at Taki-kun for losing your pen by blowing up his chemistry experiment. He's still kind of terrified of you, you know. How long ago did that happen, anyway?"

Hiraoka looked at her blankly. "You mean that time he didn't pay attention and had to clean the labs for two weeks? What's that got to do with me?"

Now it was Mitsuha's turn to look confused. "Huh? Taki-kun said it was you who set up the whole thing. To get back at him for losing your pen, or something petty like that." Both girls had stopped now, standing outside the gym with confused faces.

"That wasn't me, that was just Tachibana. He genuinely can't tell the difference between magnesium and zinc. You're saying he thinks it was me? Over him losing my pen? I'm quite a petty person, but I'm not _that_ petty." Hiraoka made a slight 'Ah!' as she came to a realisation. "So that's why he bought me an eight-pack of the same pen the very next day! I just thought he felt really bad about it, but I suppose he thought I'd set him up."

"So it really wasn't you? It was just his own, well, stupidity?"

"Basically, yeah. Way to jump to conclusions, Tachibana. I didn't think my opinion of you could get any lower, but I guess it just did."

And with that heartless remark, the shorter girl turned away and walked back to her classroom, the older girl following behind, shaking her head.

"You were right, Taki. So very right about her."

〈◇〉

Mitsuha collapsed onto her bed, face-first, and exhaled.

"I'm tired." _Why do we have beds? Why can't I just have a nice floor to sleep on? What's wrong with just rolling up in a futon, huh? Just 'cause we're in the middle of Tokyo…_

After several months of doing basically nothing all day every day, Mitsuha was woefully unprepared for school life. She was hungry at eleven, nodding off by one, and absolutely exhausted by the time she'd come though the front door at four. She'd nearly fallen asleep on the train and it was barely mid-afternoon!

"I can't deal with this every day…" Turning her head so her face was free to breathe in air instead of her duvet, she closed her eyes for just a moment…

… and opened them a few seconds later. Next to her bed was a number in red, on the front of the clock on her bedside table. _Eighteen. Eighteen, huh? What's that in twelve-hour format? Four? No, five…no, it has to be even. Six, then…SIX?!_

Mitsuha shot up, instantly feeling dizzy at getting up too quickly. She'd been asleep for over an hour! Six o'clock meant Dad would be home any minute, and nobody had started dinner, and where were grandma and Yotsuha, anyway? Taking a few moments to recover, she left her room and moved down the hall to her sister's room, slightly opening the door and peeking in. In the light of the sunset she could barely make out Yotsuha's prone form, lying in foetal position. It seemed both of them had had an exhausting day.

Mitsuha allowed herself a wan smile. Life was going to get a whole lot more interesting from now on.

* * *

 **A/N**

This wasn't supposed to happen like this, but it just kinda did. The scene on the train was 100% improvised, for better or worse, but I think it's solved some of the issues I would've had without it.

I initially predicted 10-20 chapters; at the moment it's looking closer to 8-12 otherwise the middle section (which is beginning in a couple of chapters) will just be dull and far too drawn out. There's a certain scene that this entire story is building to, and the story's overall length will depend on how far past that scene I decide to go. But that isn't for a good while yet.

Thanks for the reviews!

 _Talndir_


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

The weekend had come and gone, and Mitsuha was adjusting back to student life. The April morning was bright with a slight chill in the air as she left for school – from the flat to the station, take the subway to Shibuya, then a short walk to Jingu. Despite being the beginning of spring, the temperature was warmer than what she'd been used to in Itomori, with the open breeze often dropping in temperature as it flowed over the lake. Here in the city every day was a few degrees warmer than it would be in the country, and today Mitsuha was glad for it.

The first week of school had been fairly straightforward, but still very tiring. She wasn't quite used to the daily routine yet, and found that it drained more of her energy than she remembered, but she'd get used to it eventually. In fact, Mitsuha was learning to enjoy her new life, particularly appreciating the little things she subconsciously missed from Itomori. For example, as convenient as the subway was, she felt much happier when walking to and from the station than being stuck on a speeding tin can far underground.

The sheer size of her school made her feel like she was living in a different world, imparting a feeling of insignificance and powerlessness, but also of being one very small part of an extremely large and complex whole. In Itomori, everyone had had their own well-defined roles; such a system had some strong advantages, but it was somewhat exciting to Mitsuha to be able to walk around in her own school and have almost nobody recognise her. To know nothing about the city she lived in, for it to be a world of mysteries to her, made Mitsuha feel strangely confident and self-empowered. Being one tiny piece in a well-oiled machine of ten million parts…it made her heart race for a reason she still didn't understand.

The morning proceeded as normal; classes were classes, no matter the school you attended, and nature dictated some be duller than others. Mitsuha's interests were a fairly broad mixture – she was a reasonable artist and had a good memory for the sciences, even if she didn't really understand how any of it actually worked. Mathematics, however, seemed to elude her no matter what. In fact, it seemed that the one consistent point in her academic life was language. Not foreign languages (she was hopeless at English) but Japanese language and literature came surprisingly naturally to her, something she hadn't even noticed until a teacher had mentioned them as prospective degree choices. It was in part that comment that had spurred her to join the literature club.

And join it she would – after a bit of thought and an uneventful weekend, she'd decided that it would be more productive than doing nothing but studying day in and day out. Okay, productive might not be the right word, but at least it would be slightly more interesting. She'd had her shrine duties back in Itomori, which had kept both her and Yotsuha quite busy all year round, but that was all gone now. As much as she wanted to say good riddance, it _had_ been a way to pass the time, and it'd often been fun, but the negatives had far outweighed the positives. Replacing such a time-consuming and embarrassing lifestyle with some light reading sounded like a reasonable idea.

Once lunch came, some students left for the cafeteria or to eat elsewhere, but most stayed inside the classroom; it wasn't that warm outside, and the majority of students brought their own lunch anyway. Continuing their pattern from most of last week, Mitsuha pushed her desk closer to Hiraoka's and began to unpack her food. As she did so, a chance glance towards the door had her catch Taki's eye before his face disappeared from the window.

 _So he was looking at me._ The thought brought a faint blush to Mitsuha's cheeks – after all, she had been looking at the back of his head for much of the morning's lessons. Positioned a few seats behind and to the side, he was directly in her line of sight whenever she looked at the board or the teacher, which was most of the time. _It's not like I can help it, he's just in the way._ But she couldn't help but acknowledge that just meeting his eyes got her heart racing. It wasn't attraction – the thought hadn't even entered her mind – it was the simple feeling of sharing something important and personal with someone else. Despite not having talked at all since that morning on the subway, there were no awkward feelings, only patience.

Recovering from her little moment, Mitsuha began to eat as she considered her second new friend, the girl who was currently sitting next to her and watching her ever so curiously. _I should really learn to stop wearing my heart on my sleeve like that._ Hiraoka was sharp and picked up these kinds of things easily. Unlike Tsukasa who would probably keep quiet about it, Hiraoka was almost sure to voice any opinion she had, on literally anything, no matter the time and place. It wasn't the most desirable of personality traits, however. The way the two of them had fallen into a routine so quickly only confirmed it for Mitsuha – the poor girl had been friendless until she'd come along.

The class wasn't hostile to Hiraoka Akira, quite the contrary – she was respected and there was no bullying or anything of that sort going on as far as Mitsuha could tell. However, there was no friendliness either, no amiability that indicated anything beyond a purely professional relationship with her. This wasn't a trait of Hiraoka's, as she'd been the first person to actually talk to and help Mitsuha. No, it was that the entire class simply treated her as a mild acquaintance, no more, no less. They didn't shun her, that was too extreme a word; it was a subconscious thing, a politeness and formality you would expect from someone talking with their seniors for the first time at a new workplace.

Mitsuha had no idea how it had happened, and she wasn't going to nose around to find out. For whatever reason, Hiraoka had just never ended up with any close friends. _Well, I suppose it's up to me to change that then, isn't it?_

"What are you smiling at?" The girl in question was still peering suspiciously at her face and had realised Mitsuha was smiling before she had herself.

"Oh, nothing. Just thinking about…you, actually."

"Me? What's there to think about me?" It seemed this really wasn't something Hiraoka was expecting – she'd probably noticed her looking at Taki earlier and was going to ask her about it. Well, she wasn't going to give her friend any more opportunities to criticise him.

"Just how much of a help you were on the first day. I was really nervous coming here, I'd expected things to be a lot…rougher. But it seems I was wrong. I never expected to make friends so quickly. You, Tsukasa, Taki…" Mitsuha let slip the name she was trying to avoid, and interrupted Hiraoka as she began to speak. "And I don't care what you have to say about Taki or his friends."

Hiraoka put down her chopsticks and huffed. "I don't have anything against his friends. Well, not Fujii anyway. Just him." She went back to her food, eating faster than before, and Mitsuha realised something strange.

"Hang on. I know why he's scared of you, and I get that it's just a misunderstanding on his part. But why don't you like him? I mean, you don't _have_ to like him, it's just that you seem to have particularly strong feelings against him whereas you seem pretty indifferent to anyone else. Not that indifference is any better, but that's beside the point."

Hiraoka looked away and mumbled something, and Mitsuha moved closer with a 'hmm?'

"I said I don't want to talk about it. It was years ago anyway, and I'm sure he's forgotten about it, but I definitely haven't."

Mitsuha moved back and sighed into her lunchbox. "You two really know how to hold a grudge, you know that?" And with that statement, the two of them fell into a semi-uncomfortable silence as they continued eating. A few minutes passed before Hiraoka spoke again.

"Have you decided? About the club?" She spoke without looking up and didn't seem that interested.

"Actually, yeah. I've decided to join. I figured it was simple and low-commitment, and more interesting than doing nothing at home. It's strange, I never had time for any hobbies or clubs before, but now that I have all that time back I don't know what to do with it. Not that there were many clubs to choose from at my old school." Mitsuha sighed wistfully. "Life was easier when I didn't get any choice in it."

 _Great, now I sound like a complaining old woman. Not even Grandma talks like this._ The thought brought a frown to Mitsuha's face, but the girl sitting next to her seemed more intrigued than anything else.

"That reminds me," she started slowly, "you mentioned something about…ceremonies or something. Last week, at the club activities fair." Mitsuha looked over Hiraoka's face and couldn't tell whether she was pretending to be disinterested or genuinely had no investment in her own questions. Considering how she was speaking between mouthfuls of rice it was probably the latter. "It's just, you said you didn't join any clubs at your old school, so it couldn't have been anything to do with that…"

This was getting dangerously close to a subject Mitsuha would prefer to avoid, so she attempted to respond as nonchalantly as possible. "Oh, that. Yeah, it wasn't a club. Just something my family used to do. It wasn't a big deal, really." Unsure about whether Hiraoka believed her or not (or cared enough to decide either way), Mitsuha was relieved when her friend dropped the subject with a simple 'okay.' Technically, she hadn't lied…but she hadn't told the entire truth either. At this point, Mitsuha wasn't really sure why she cared so much about keeping it a secret – being a former miko wasn't all that interesting really, as long as nobody found out about Itomori – but she opted to keep such thoughts to herself.

The lunch passed quickly, helped along its way by some idle chatter between the girls, and soon it was time for afternoon classes. A few grey clouds had journeyed across to inner Tokyo while Mitsuha sat in her classroom, and it wasn't long before there began a slight patter at the windows. As bright as it had been that morning, rain was to be expected at this time of year, so it wasn't a surprise to see the streaks of water race across the windows, leaving trails of tiny droplets in their wake. Mitsuha was glad that she would be staying after school to attend the literature club, as hopefully the weather would clear up before she had to leave.

Once the final class ended, Mitsuha said goodbye to Hiraoka and left in search of the second-year classrooms. The club usually met in class 2-2…or was it 2-1? Wandering around parts of the school she hadn't yet got around to fully exploring, Mitsuha slowly made a round trip of the entire grounds, making her journey longer than it needed to be by trying to peek into other classrooms without looking too suspicious.

Finally, after almost ten minutes of searching (and of refusing to ask help from the dwindling population of students walking the corridors), she found the right place. It seemed that the second-year classes were split into two sections, however it had taken her a long time to realise that the building she needed was one of the only ones isolated from the rest. A bit more searching yielded the location of the necessary covered walkway, without which students would have to be constantly switching between their indoor and outdoor shoes when coming to and fro.

Entering the building, Mitsuha quickly located the rooms she was looking for. Peeking through the window of class 2-2 showed no signs of life, so she moved over to 2-1 only to find it, too, devoid of anyone. However, from the angle she was looking in at, Mitsuha could just about make out a few words written in large characters on the board. She opened the door to get a better look: 'Literature club cancelled, sorry. Next meeting on Thursday.'

"Seriously? They cancelled the first meeting? Now I have to walk in the rain…" Mitsuha turned away and was about to leave when she heard a voice call out from along the corridor.

"Hey! Is the club cancelled?" She could hear footsteps approaching, and turned to face the speaker, a very short, slim girl she hadn't seen before.

"Yes, it says so on the board. I don't know why, though."

The girl sighed dramatically and scratched her head in irritation. "Ah, really? You'd think she would turn up on the first day at least!" Finally noticing she didn't recognise the student in front of her, she hastened to explain.

"You're new, right? Basically, every club needs a supervisor, they don't really need to do much if they don't want to. They do need to be present at the first meeting of each year though, for, like, reasons." The girl spoke very quickly, her long hair shaking with each erratic head movement. Her hands moved dynamically with her words, almost telling a story of their own.

"Anyway, a new teacher took over the literature club last year and she comes every meeting, which is good, except when it rains. Which makes no sense, because she's already in school when the day ends, which means she deliberately leaves while it's raining, every time it rains. Isn't that like, really weird? Anyway, my name's Kana, pleased to meet you!"

Kana smiled brightly, her teeth visible and her hand outstretched; as soon as Mitsuha took it, the girl shook vigorously and seemed to fill with joy.

"I'm Mitsuha. I just transferred into third year."

"Oh, I thought you were a fresher! People always think I'm a first-year because I'm so short, so I guess I just project that onto everyone new I meet no matter how tall they are." She laughed, and the sound was harmonious in a raw, unconstrained way that perfectly reflected her clearly outgoing and confident nature. "I guess we should go home then. Do you have an umbrella?"

"No, I didn't think it would rain today."

"Well it's your lucky day, because I _did_ think it would rain!" Kana released Mitsuha's hand and pulled a collapsible umbrella out of her bag. "Come on, let's get our shoes!" And with that, Kana literally skipped away down the corridor, forcing a smile onto Mitsuha's willing face.

〈◇〉

"So which way are you going?" The two girls huddled together under Kana's small umbrella and walked quickly towards the main gates of the school. Being around a foot taller, Mitsuha had opted to carry the umbrella or she would end up having to hunch over underneath it.

"I take the subway. Are you headed in that direction?" Mitsuha would have to walk from Yoyogi station to their flat so she would get caught in the rain no matter what, but she preferred it be later rather than sooner.

"I am now!" Kana replied cheerily as she turned towards Mitsuha's destination.

"Wait, you don't have to come with me! I mean, if you live the other way then I can walk! I'll have to walk a bit later anyway, it doesn't matter if I get wet now." Mitsuha had stopped as soon as Kana had turned, but the shorter girl grabbed the hand Mitsuha was using to hold the umbrella and urged her forward.

"I don't mind, I only live like five minutes away anyway. A quick detour isn't a big deal."

"…alright, if you insist."

"I do insist, I do!" Without further argument, the girls resumed walking to Shibuya station. Kana's hand was still over Mitsuha's, both of them holding the umbrella together, despite Kana having to extend her arm above her head to do so. Despite the rain chilling the air, the girls' hands kept each other warm, and Mitsuha soon began to appreciate the contact.

"So which way do you take the subway? Wait, let me guess…north!" Mitsuha nodded in response to her correct guess. "And you get off at…Shinjuku?" This time the reply was a shake of the head. "Yoyogi, then?" Another nod. "Ahhhh, so close!"

Mitsuha laughed, and Kana pouted at her. "It's rude to laugh at others, you know."

But Mitsuha could tell that Kana's expression was just an act. "I'm not laughing at you, you're just really funny. I think you're probably the most excitable person I've ever met."

The pout dropped as quickly as it had come, and she smiled once again. "Most people call me immature or childish, but I like excitable better. Yeah, I think I'll use that from now on. _Excitable._ Sounds…exciting!" She giggled to herself, and Mitsuha had to remined herself that she was in fact dealing with someone the same age as herself.

"Childish, huh? With your height and all, I'd probably think you were my sister's age."

"How rude! Ooooh, you have a sister? What's her name? What's she like?" Her tone flipping like a switch from angry to curious, she began to bombard Mitsuha with questions. "How old is she? Am I taller than her?"

Mitsuha made a 'calm down' gesture with her one free hand, accidentally moving her arm outside the protection of the umbrella and getting it slightly wet. "One at a time! Her name's Yotsuha, she's-"

Kana gasped and pushed her face towards Mitsuha's. By now neither of the girls were looking where they were going, and as they neared the station Mitsuha began to steal glances forward to direct them between the ever-growing number of pedestrians. _First Hiraoka, then Taki, now Kana, will I ever meet someone normal?_ Her thoughts were shattered however as Kana said something that surprised her.

"I bet your other sisters are called Hitoha and Futaha, right? Right?"

Had she not had the other girl's hand over her own, Mitsuha would have dropped the umbrella right then and there. Her mouth fell open, and the shock was evident on her face; Kana giggled and moved even closer. "So, am I right?"

Mitsuha closed her gaping mouth and turned to face forward before both of them wandered into the road. "Um, nearly. I don't have any sisters, but my grandma's name is Hitoha and Mum's was Futaba, not Futaha. But how did you…" Mitsuha stopped and clapped her hand to her forehead. "The kanji, right?"

"Yep!" The two girls stood beside the pedestrian crossing, waiting for the green man to appear. "Mitsuha is written as 'three leaves', right? And Yotsuha is 'four leaves'. So I thought you might have older sisters called 'one leaf' and 'two leaves'." Kana grinned proudly, almost as if she'd solved some clever riddle. And she had the right to be proud – Mitsuha was certainly impressed. To make the connection between their names without seeing how they were written, and then guess the other two…there was some real knowledge behind that.

"I'm impressed. And surprised – nobody's ever figured that out so quickly before. I remember Mum telling me why I was named that way, and Yotsuha too…"

Mitsuha's voice drifted into silence as the traffic stopped and they crossed the road, remembering those final days before her mother had passed.

"You said…your mum's name _was_ Futaba. Does that mean…" Kana's eyes were wide, her voice soft and her face angled towards Mitsuha's own.

"Yeah, she died when I was little." Mitsuha smiled in an effort to remedy the other girl's sudden change of mood. "Don't worry about it," she said gently. The memories she had of her mother had never been painful, only warm and calming.

A few moments later they reached the station, enclosed by people leaving and entering on all sides. Mitsuha turned to Kana and inclined her head slightly, which didn't make much difference as she had to look down to see Kana's face anyway. "Thank you for going out of your way to keep me dry all this way."

"Don't worry about it." Her smile returned in full. "I guess I'll see you on Thursday then, for the next club meeting. Assuming it isn't raining of course!" The two girls shared a laugh, happy in the thought that they had made a new friend today.

"Bye!"

"See you later."

The two girls stood looking at one another for a few seconds.

"Um…is something wrong?" Kana asked, her expression slightly confused.

"You're still holding my hand…" Kana looked at the umbrella handle, finally realising that she'd been clasping Mitsuha's hand the whole time.

"Whoops! Ahaha!" The girls shared another laugh, Kana letting go and Mitsuha giving her back the umbrella. "Wow, my arm's so tired! I was holding it up for so long, but I didn't even notice." She let her arm fall, accidentally dropping the umbrella onto the crown of Mitsuha's head, and they both laughed together for the third time. Mitsuha ducked away and into one of the station's many entrances, waving behind her as she did, and soon lost Kana's short figure in the crowd as she moved inside.

〈◇〉

Mitsuha arrived home completely dry, save the soles of her shoes and a few drops on her jacket. By the time she had emerged from Yoyogi station, the rain had stopped and the clouds had cleared, their contents spilled on the ground in small puddles.

"I should really buy an umbrella. Relying on the kindness of a random girl to keep me dry…" she muttered to herself as she opened the door and removed her wet shoes. "I'm home!" But she couldn't help but feel happy at how things had turned out – to make a new friend so easily, someone so bubbly and happy and full of energy, lifted her spirits skyward. Like the sun parting the clouds, any negative feelings were outshone by the girl who had kept her company this afternoon.

"Oh, Mitsuha. I thought you would be returning late today?" Grandma had rounded the corner into the hallway, a book almost as old as she was held in her hand. "You mentioned joining a school club a few days ago? A splendid idea, but you shouldn't back out at the last minute!"

"I didn't back out! It was cancelled because the teacher who runs it wasn't here today. Apparently she doesn't come to club meetings when it rains, but she needs to be present at the first meeting, so…"

"She doesn't attend on rainy days? An interesting disposition, indeed. Who is this teacher?"

"I don't know, I forgot to ask. All I know is she took over the club last year. My literature teacher is a man, so it's not him. Although it doesn't have to be a teacher related to the subject, I suppose. Either way, the first meeting will be on Thursday."

"Provided it doesn't rain, of course!" The old woman chuckled and went back into the living room, sitting on the chair and resuming her reading. Entering after her, Mitsuha saw her sister sitting on a cushion and doing her homework on the table.

"Onee-san, you really shouldn't bunk off club activities like that." But her cheeky grin gave away the tease to be what it was, and Mitsuha smiled back at her.

"You heard what I said. What about you, are you joining any clubs?" Back in Itomori Yotsuha had expressed interest in Kendo at an early age, but unfortunately there wasn't anyone in Itomori trained and willing to give lessons, despite there being a good number of students willing to participate. Fortunately kendo club was a given at any large school in Tokyo, or anywhere in Japan really (as long as it wasn't a tiny little village like Itomori…) so she would have the opportunity to practise it here if she so wished. But Yotsuha's response surprised her.

"Yep, I'm joining the astronomy club!" Yotsuha replied with vigour.

"…come again? You don't even own a telescope. I thought you were going to join kendo, or something cultural."

"Ever since I saw the comet I got really interested in stars and meteors and planets and space and stuff!" Yotsuha had dropped her pencil and was staring intently at Mitsuha, her eyes shining. Even Grandma was peeking a look over the top of her book. "I just thought, 'wow, it's so beautiful! I want to see more!' so I decided to join the astronomy club."

"Yotsuha, I hope you haven't forgotten that the thing you call 'beautiful' was a massive burning lump of rock flying through space at a million miles an hour."

"Exactly, beautiful!" Beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder, and this beholder could be _pretty_ stubborn if she wanted to.

"It flattened our town. It nearly landed on you! It very nearly landed on me! It…" Mitsuha didn't really know why she was arguing – comet Tiamat had certainly been beautiful, of that there was no doubt. Even as she had watched it hurtle down towards her in that field, felt the impact as her body burned…no, that wasn't right, she had been evacuating everyone on the road when it had hit, she'd never attended the festival, remember? So why could she remember something else, something completely different?

"…no, you're right. It was beautiful, wasn't it?" Looking up, Mitsuha caught her grandmother's eye, and for just a moment it seemed as though she too had seen what Mitsuha had experienced. But then the moment passed, Hitoha went back to her book and Yotsuha started chattering on about comet tails and planetary rings. It seemed she had really done some research, although a few things ('It travels faster than light! That's even faster than the bullet train!') seemed ever so slightly inaccurate.

Eventually Mitsuha began to zone out and had to excuse herself, leaving Yotsuha to finish her homework in a thoroughly unfocused and far too excited state to be productive. She picked up her bag off the floor and went to her room, closing the door and changing into something more comfortable. Not that her school uniform was _un_ comfortable, just that she preferred to wear something else when at home.

While changing, Mitsuha untied her hair and let it fall freely down onto her shoulders. She'd allowed it to regrow to its previous length after the rather spontaneous haircut she'd got the day before the Itomori incident…that reminded her, that was the day she'd gone to Tokyo. Her current theory was that she'd found some info on the comet and figured out it was likely to crash. Perhaps it would be worth giving the library a visit and seeing whether there really were any old records of the Miyamizu shrine – if there was any useful information to be found, it would be here in Tokyo. Perhaps it would even be beneficial to ask Yotsuha about it; she seemed to have done quite a bit of reading around the subject, even if some of her information was a little off.

Bringing her wandering thoughts back to reality, Mitsuha focused her eyes and realised she was looking at herself in the mirror, half-dressed and holding her hair ribbon in her hands. She could barely remember even making the thing – it had been her first solo braid, made when she was about eight years old. She had absolutely resented the process – it was long, tedious and, above all, hard to remember. But the feeling when it had been completed, and Mum had shown her how to do up her hair with it…that moment she would never forget. As much as she resented her family's culture and traditions, this ribbon was something she would forever be proud of.

Mitsuha wrapped the hand-crafted cord around her left wrist. She felt it would be important someday. No, that was wrong, and Mitsuha smiled at her reflection as she realised – it had already done so much for her. It was how he had recognised her, after all.

* * *

I have no idea what I'm doing anymore, someone send help! I'm basically winging the entire middle section of the story, and I've given up on actually planning it out. The ending I've had down since day one, but all of this is straight from my head to the page. Word count seems to be dipping too, but I tend to break whenever it seems best to, so chapter length really depends on how long I feel the last section should be, which is only decided as I'm writing it.

Internship ends tomorrow and uni starts back up again the day before the next update. That means less free time, but the schedule won't be changing unless I really lag behind. Also next chapter should have more Taki in it! I'm not giving him much screen time, mostly because Mitsuha's life is far more interesting.

Can any of you guess who the literature club teacher is? Also please review if you have any comments, whether positive or (constructively) negative. I really didn't expect to get this many views so quickly, what I'm really lacking right now more than anything is feedback. Thanks!

 _Talndir_


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

The drawing was really coming along nicely. Inspired by that afternoon at the café with Tsukasa and Mitsuha, Taki had been working on a sketch of the three of them for over a week now. Well, it had graduated from 'sketch' quite a while ago, somehow developing into an incredibly detailed line drawing.

Usually when drawing something like this you would outline the scene, then progressively add more detail, slowly bringing the entire frame together. This piece had certainly not followed those rules. He'd made a very rough sketch of the setting, then immediately went to town on Mitsuha's hair of all things. Realising how odd the sight was, Taki had decided to complete a more in-depth rendering of the rest of the girl's form, which left him with the unique sight of a single girl laughing alone in a barely recognisable assortment of vague shapes and lines.

Eventually deciding to just do things his own way, the next few days were focused on completing the three of them and the table they were sitting at, before expanding outward and solidifying the remainder of the café. Last night he'd remembered about the window he'd sketched in (it was so faint he could barely see it) and ended up adjusting almost everything to make the lighting more consistent.

On a whim, Taki opened a drawer and withdrew a thin folder. It was almost time to leave for school, but he wanted to take a quick look – at the sketches he'd made of Itomori six months ago. They used to be pinned up all over the walls, covering every spare square inch of his bedroom walls, but he took them down and stored them away eventually. For some reason, the way he was working on this piece at the moment reminded him of back then, when he'd made those sketches. There was definitely a link between Mitsuha, Itomori and the incident with the comet, it was almost certain.

Looking at the time on his phone, Taki dropped the open folder on a free corner of his desk, grabbed his bag, tied his shoes and slipped out the door with a quiet 'click' as it shut behind him. Perhaps he would see her on the subway again today. It was very unlikely actually – the trains came every two or three minutes and were so crowded you could even be in the same carriage without noticing each other. Still, he could dream, couldn't he?

It was strange, now that he thought about it. They barely interacted despite being in the same class, but it didn't feel deliberate or awkward. It was more like they were both comfortable in not getting especially close. They shared something intimate that they didn't quite understand, and somehow that feeling of closeness stuck with them just by being in the same room together. Initially, Taki hadn't wanted to push his own agenda onto Mitsuha, but now that she'd settled in and they had confirmed that they really _did_ know each other there was no need for that excuse anymore.

It was finally time to unleash his inner, impulsive, act-first-think-later self! And with that revelation, all thoughts of Mitsuha vanished. They would return when they were needed – such was the Tachibana way.

〈◆〉

Taki walked into class 3-2, looked around the room, thought 'wrong classroom', backed out the door, walked a few metres down the hall and entered class 3-3. He'd arrived a little early, so the room was only around half-full. Dropping his bag onto his desk, Taki walked over to Tsukasa (who always arrived early) and decided to make some small talk.

"Hey Tsukasa."

"Good morning, Taki. You're here earlier than usual." Tsukasa was already getting out his books and pencil case, always the prepared and diligent student. Taki casually sat down in front of him, sitting backwards at the currently empty desk.

"I guess I walked faster than I thought. I didn't expect you to be here actually, you've been pretty busy with student council stuff. What's going on?" Tsukasa had been in the student council since his first year and was one of the most responsible and reliable students in the school. He always got a bit too invested in his work, so it was up to Taki to make sure he didn't go overboard.

"Ah, that. Unfortunately, some official positions have still not been filled." His voice suddenly sounded tired.

"But weren't the elections in February? You know, to make sure there's enough time to do the transfer and everything?" Taki had voted for Tsukasa of course, as he had run for vice-president for the second year in a row. "I thought that would all be sorted by now."

"Two people pulled out last week, and most of the others who were running for those positions are no longer interested. To make matters worse, class reps must be chosen by tomorrow, which will mean a proper meeting sometime next week, despite not even having a full council. Well, we'll be quorate at least…"

"So, you're saying that on top of filling positions that should have already been filled two months ago, the council is also going to have to introduce a whole load of new reps into the group?"

"Yes, as all the first-year reps will need a full induction. We've been given permission to take as much time off as we need over these first few weeks to make sure everything is sorted out. And the karate, literature and art clubs haven't completed their club registration forms yet."

"Sounds like hard work." Taki had never been interested in the school's politics – it was mostly hidden from view, and almost nothing they did directly affected him in any major way. They were in charge of organising various events, dealing with the clubs (including annual club budgets) and voicing students' concerns to the staff. Besides, he was pretty busy with his job most of the time, so didn't really have the energy to spend on a mock government mostly run by inept teenagers. Tsukasa excluded, of course.

"Good morning, Hiraoka." Taki turned his head at the sound of a chair being pulled back, as the recipient of Tsukasa's greeting took her seat.

"Good morning, Fujii. Tachibana." They met eyes briefly, and any warmth from either of the two evaporated instantly.

"Hiraoka." Some things never change.

"Actually…I have something to ask you, Tachibana." Now this was interesting indeed – perhaps Mitsuha's friendliness was rubbing off on her? Taki was sceptical, though.

"…what is it?"

Hiraoka leaned in slightly, quickly glancing at Tsukasa before posing her question. "There's something I've been thinking about, and I think it's in both our interests to find out."

"…okay…" Now she really was making him nervous. "This isn't a business meeting, you know. You can just ask." Even Tsukasa was looking a little confused.

"Alright, then. How much do you know about-" Just then, Hiraoka's eyes darted towards the door and she stopped in mid-sentence. "Never mind, I'll ask you later." Turning his own head, Taki saw Mitsuha had just entered the classroom and was walking towards them with an impish smile.

"Wow, Taki-kun and Akira-chan getting along! It's a miracle, rivalry becoming friendship!"

"Don't call me that!"  
"We're not friends!"

The two synchronised outbursts, followed by Tsukasa's and Mitsuha's bouts of laughter, quickly attracted the attention of the rest of the classroom, which by now was almost full. Taki and Hiraoka turned away from each other with a huff, which was difficult as Taki was still sitting backwards and had nothing to look at but a blank wall, while Hiraoka was forced to look towards the rest of the staring class, cheeks reddening by the second.

"Also, Taki-kun, you're sitting in my seat." Mitsuha was smiling as Taki's awkward face looked up at her own.

"Right, sorry. I'll…just…go…" Taki stumbled over his words as he got up and walked past Mitsuha to his own seat, nearer the front of the room. Mitsuha took his place, a grin still on her face. Taki looked back and shared a look of exasperation with Hiraoka, then sat down and pulled out his things. It was only a moment later that the teacher entered, and the first class of the day began.

〈◆〉

"Want to eat in here, Tsukasa? Takagi's busy so he won't be joining us." Usually the three of them – Taki, Tsukasa and Takagi – would eat together somewhere else, but now that they were split across two classes it was more practical to just eat in the classroom if Takagi wasn't coming.

"Sorry Taki, I've got more student council stuff. I'll be back for afternoon lessons…probably." And with that, Tsukasa packed his stuff and left, leaving Taki standing next to his friend's empty desk with lunch in hand. _Guess I'm eating by myself then. I wonder if it's too cold to eat on the roof…_

"You can eat with us." Just as he was turning to go, Mitsuha spoke to him. Of course, she sat right in front of Tsukasa, so she'd overheard them quite clearly.

"Well…if you don't mind." Taki's eyes slipped towards Hiraoka, who was currently looking daggers at her unconcerned friend. "But I don't think that-"

"Hiraoka doesn't mind."

"Hey, you don't speak for me!" She turned her glare on him, and Taki mentally recoiled slightly. A few seconds passed, and just as Taki was about to excuse himself, she spoke again. "Well? Sit down already. Don't you know it's rude to eat while standing up?" Since that seemed to be the most approval he was going to get, Taki reluctantly sat down at Tsukasa's vacant desk and unpacked his food, starting some casual conversation as he did so.

"So…how are you fitting in? I mean, you seem to be doing fine from what I can tell, but how are you finding the school? Or just life in general, I guess." Taki began to eat as Mitsuha put down her chopsticks to answer. The two girls had pushed their desks closer together and turned their chairs to face each other; Mitsuha now angled herself almost completely backwards to talk to Taki, her food in her lap. Hiraoka just continued eating, pretending not to be paying attention.

"It's really great here, way better than Ikebukuro. Everyone's friendly and accommodating, I feel like I'm already part of the school even though I still barely know my way around. It's crazy how fast I made friends here – like you guys." Mitsuha smiled sincerely at her two friends, and any lingering tension between Hiraoka and Taki dispersed. "That wasn't something I was expecting."

"It's kind of overwhelming, though. Since I moved from- where I used to live, to the city, I've got more used to the crowds and noise and all that, but going to school in the middle of Shibuya makes that little corner of Ikebukuro feel almost slow. And compared to the country, it's like everything is running at triple speed."

"Do you miss it?" This time it was Hiraoka asking. "Is there anything you miss from Gifu?" _Ah, so she's from Gifu prefecture, huh? I didn't know. But that's where Itomori is, isn't it? It's right next to Hida._ He had nothing but a gut feeling to go on – but then, wasn't that all he'd ever had? And if Mitsuha had the same feeling then it couldn't be discounted.

"Yeah, some things," Mitsuha sighed. "I miss my friends. I miss my house, Japanese-style with tatami floors and sliding doors. The openness, the mountain, the lake… I miss how clean the air is – you have no idea how dirty this city is until you smell true fresh air. …I miss the stars."

Her head was tilted slightly forward, and her food lay almost untouched. But then Mitsuha smiled, and there was something reluctantly bittersweet about it.

"But there are plenty of things I don't miss at all. I've wanted to live in Tokyo my whole life, and now that I'm here, I'm finding it's not exactly what I'd imagined. But I wouldn't change a thing…no, that's not true. There is one thing I did change." And with that, Mitsuha stopped talking and started eating, leaving Taki and Hiraoka with more questions than they had started with…but a lot of answers, too. For unbeknownst to them, both were thinking exactly the same thoughts.

〈◇〉

Mitsuha had said something weird again, she could tell from her friends' faces. So after a few mouthfuls of food, she decided to change the subject. "So Tsukasa is quite busy with the student council? What position is he?"

"He's vice president, and yeah, he's really busy at the moment," Taki explained.

"Plus there was that mess of an election last year. Some people have dropped out, the spineless weeds. Honestly, if you're going to run for a position don't resign before you even start it!" Hiraoka seemed unusually upset, as she stabbed at her food. "It's really irresponsible of them."

"Yeah, Tsukasa mentioned that to me this morning. He also said there are some clubs that haven't filled out their initial registration form for the year, which is weird as most clubs have already met at least once."

Mitsuha perked up at Taki's last statement. "Could one of those clubs be the literature club, perhaps?" Taki nodded, surprised. "We didn't get to meet on Monday because the teacher – I still don't know who it is, actually – cancelled the meeting. Apparently you need them to be there for at least the first meeting."

Hiraoka nodded in agreement. "That's right, they need to be present for the first and last meetings of the year, for administration-related reasons. That still doesn't excuse the form not being handed in, though, since it's supposed to be handed in before the first day of term. It's just proof that the club is actually running this year, so technically you're not supposed to meet until it's been verified by the council."

Taki nodded. "I remember Tsukasa getting annoyed about that last year – I think there was a new club that never filled in a registration form, so nobody even knew they existed for months, and they didn't get any funding for any of their activities." He turned towards Mitsuha. "So you've joined the literature club? Their poetry book for last year's cultural festival was pretty good."

"It was mediocre at best," Hiraoka interjected, more for the sake of disagreeing with Taki than actually contributing to the conversation. "Besides, Mitsuha doesn't want to write for them. Unless you've changed your mind?"

"No, I still don't want to do any writing. I've never written before, so I'm sure I'll be terrible." Mitsuha could see Taki was about to interrupt her, so she continued on quickly. "Besides, I'm only joining to read. That's all. I'll help out in other ways of course, but not by writing." Taki reluctantly backed down – it was clear he was going to give her the usual line, "How do you know if you've never tried before?" but Mitsuha was just not interested, that much was clear.

"So do you want to do literature at university?" Taki asked.

"I don't know. I'm good at it, so I suppose it's one option. But I'm not really sure what I want my career to be, or if I'm even that interested in Japanese language or literature. I mean, I'm definitely interested, but I don't really read as much as I used to, and I don't know what I can do with a degree in it." Mitsuha hadn't given the subject as much thought as she should have; given that it was her final year of high school, she needed to make a decision quickly. "What about you guys?"

Hiraoka answered first, to both Mitsuha's and Taki's surprise. "I'm going to study medicine and become an oncologist."

"A what?" The other two asked in sync. Oncology…Mitsuha had no idea what the word meant. "'-ology' means 'study of' in Latin, right? So you're studying…no, I have no idea." Taki looked surprisingly at her, clearly impressed by her deduction. _Maybe I am cut out for literature after all…but Latin won't help me much with Japanese…_

"It's the study of cancer. I've got the grades, may as well do something useful with them. And before you ask, it's not because someone I know died of cancer or something. I just don't want to get to fifty years old and realise I haven't actually contributed anything to the world. I saw this kid on TV, he was only three years old and yet…it's not fair. The world's not fair. So I want to make it at least a little bit fairer."

"Wow…I had no idea you were such a philanthropist, Hiraoka! That's a wonderful goal!" Mitsuha smiled at her friend. To want to help people, that was an admirable dream. "I wish I knew what I wanted to do…what about you, Taki?" Both girls' eyes turned to Taki.

"I want to become a landscape architect and bring some more of the country into the city, and leave good memories of Tokyo for the people of Japan." He smiled wanly. "I know it sounds cheesy, but you never know when this city might just disappear."

Mitsuha was moved. _You never know when this city might just disappear._ Those words resounded deeply with her. She had witnessed the complete destruction of her hometown. Looking behind her and seeing the wave of force and destruction coming towards her, knocking her clean off her feet, and returning a few weeks later to survey the damage…it had saddened her at her very core. Mitsuha had denied a lot of Itomori – its heritage, culture and history were on her shoulders and she had wanted to simply escape from it all. But there was one thing she couldn't deny – it had been her home. Her beautiful, irreplaceable home. If Tokyo were to disappear tomorrow – that feeling was one she knew, and wished upon nobody else.

A tear came to her eye, and Mitsuha raised her hand to brush it away. She looked up to see the faces of Hiraoka and Taki looking at her, concerned yet…understanding. _Do they know? Maybe it isn't such a big deal after all._ "Sorry guys, I didn't mean to cry. You just took me by surprise. Both of you have such wonderful dreams, and all I have is something I want to run away from." Then she felt the light touch of Taki's hand on one arm, and Hiraoka's on the other.

"Don't worry about it. I'm sure you'll find your calling one day, we just found ours a little earlier than you did."

"Just take your time and figure yourself out. That's what'll tell you who you want to be."

Mitsuha smiled and began to chuckle. "Thanks, really. I'm glad I met you two."

〈◇〉

The rest of the lunch hour passed with idle chatter. Mitsuha was glad to see Hiraoka and Taki getting along a little more, and the atmosphere stayed relaxed. Tsukasa finally returned near the end of lunch, followed moments later by next class' teacher. Afternoon lessons were kicked off and the day proceeded as normal. Mitsuha anxiously glanced outside the window every few minutes as the end of the day neared, but thankfully the sky stayed clear of grey clouds.

Finally, the last class of the day ended, and Mitsuha quickly packed her things. Waving goodbye to Hiraoka and Tsukasa, and briefly catching Taki's eye, she left the room and navigated her way through the school to class 2-1. Now that she knew where she was going, Mitsuha arrived while the corridors were still lively. Seeing some students inside, Mitsuha wasn't sure whether they were from the literature club or if that was actually their classroom and they were yet to leave. Then someone near the centre of the room turned, and she recognised the short, long-haired girl to be Kana, the girl who had so readily accompanied her to the station on Monday.

Mitsuha stopped loitering in the doorway and entered the room, moving directly to the desk next to Kana's. Behind her, a few more chatting students followed her in, and none of the students present left; it seemed they were all here for the club. In one rear corner she could make out the boy who had manned the stall at the club activities fair, a book open on his desk. Kana finally noticed Mitsuha's presence and beamed at her, her face practically shining.

"Mitsuha! You came!" Kana's eager voice brought a smile to Mitsuha's face. "There was nothing written on the board this time, so hopefully the meeting is still on."

"It's got a lot warmer since this morning and no hint of a grey sky." Mitsuha could see the sky out the window from over Kana's head – if anything, the weather seemed to be deliberately trying to make up for earlier in the week. "I've been praying for no rain the whole afternoon, I guess it worked."

"You and me both!" Kana motioned for Mitsuha to take a seat and she complied, setting her bag down on a free desk to the right of Kana's. Looking over her shoulder, Mitsuha could see more students entering the room and sitting down apparently randomly. The hallway was beginning to empty, and the room was around three-quarters full.

"So, what happens now?" Mitsuha asked Kana. At the moment the room looked like a normal class, with students sitting down and chatting. Shouldn't something be happening?

"The club president will be here soon, and she'll start things. Sensei will come in a bit since she's probably just taught a lesson and all." Kana explained. "At least, that was how it worked last year. Usually though, we just relax and talk for a bit before the pres announces anything special for the day, but it's almost always just discussion and feedback on whatever we've read recently. Oh, here she is."

Mitsuha was surprised to see a tall, foreign girl walk into the classroom and shut the door behind her. She had a graceful air to her, and a body most Japanese girls would be envious of. However, the most striking feature was her blonde hair tied in a ponytail that fell slightly wavily down between her prominent shoulder blades. From her face, she seemed to be half-Japanese and half-European, although where exactly she was from Mitsuha couldn't even begin to guess.

Then the girl began to speak, and the room immediately fell silent. From her lips came such harmonious, natural and perfect Japanese that nobody could bring themselves to continue talking over her.

"Good afternoon, and welcome to the literature club," she began, smiling to the assembled students and meeting their eyes one by one, as if speaking to each one individually. "I apologise for the cancellation of the inaugural meeting; this was because Yukino-sensei, the supervisor for this club, was unable to attend, and the supervisor's presence is mandated on both the first and last meetings of each academic year. She is currently in the staff room and will be here shortly."

Mitsuha was extremely impressed, and slightly ashamed – the few foreigners that had visited Itomori were always tourists, speaking more with their cameras than their mouths, and the Japanese they did speak was often broken and butchered; as such, Mitsuha had not expected much of her when she first entered the room. However, it was clear that she had a natural affinity and eloquence for language far beyond most adults. It was only fitting that a girl with such a fabulous command of Japanese should be head of the literature club.

"My name is Kimura Erina, but please just call me Erina. I will be serving as president of this club until next year. This is actually my classroom, so if you have any queries outside the usual meetings, you know where to find me. I hope to serve you well this year." Erina bowed deeply, and Mitsuha had to fight the urge to bow back, sitting down as she was.

"Firstly, I'll just take some time to outline the objectives of the literature club, as well as the main activities we will be carrying out this year.  
"The aim of this club is to promote an interest in reading and literature of all types, although we will as usual be focusing on contemporary and traditional Japanese novels and poetry. Of course, other languages and forms of literature are encouraged, but these formats are the most accessible and discussable.  
"The first activity we carry out here is actually one that is generally not done during club meetings, and that is reading. Although it is fine to read during meetings, it is encouraged to read at home or elsewhere and spend the time here in discussion, which leads me to the second activity of the literature club: discussing literature. We usually have two groups discussing what they have read, one group having agreed to read a certain amount of a certain book between each meeting, and the other simply discussing whatever they've been reading recently.  
"Out third main activity is writing, something not all members are too keen on at first. Along with consuming literature, we also produce it. We usually have a third group for writers, which exchange ideas and, if they wish, review each other's work. The literature club also produces a book each year for the cultural festival in November; last year we wrote and sold a book of poetry with the theme of 'bittersweet' and recited some of the poems at the festival. We also encourage all members to review anything they read and add it to the club website, which unfortunately not many people know exists, so please do visit it and spread the word.  
"That's all the essentials – does anyone have any questions?"

One boy at the front raised his hand, and Erina motioned for him to ask his question. "What book are you – that is, the club – reading at the moment?" This was something on Mitsuha's mind too, as it would tell her a lot about what kind of style the club liked – depending on what they tended to read, she may not be sticking around for too long. But Erina's answer was more than satisfactory.

"The club collectively decides which books it wants to read, which could mean no designated books, or multiple, depending on what its members want. Ideally the decision will be made by the end of today, and the club may be able to subsidise any book purchases if the chosen book, or books, are difficult to obtain through local libraries. This club is very much the sum of its parts – although I am president in name, I do little to decide on the club's activities, as that responsibility falls on the shoulders of every member equally. My responsibilities are mostly administrative, I must say, so it really is the people's choice."

"Any other questions?" The room stayed silent and no hands were raised, so Erina continued. "Very well, we just need to wait for sensei to arrive and then we can begin properly. Thank you for your attention." She bowed once again, and there was a spattering of applause that finished before Mitsuha could begin to clap herself. The room began to fill with the buzz of conversation and Mitsuha turned to Kana sat beside her.

"Isn't she awesome? You can see why we chose her to be president, can't you? And she's a second-year!" Kana whispered excitedly.

"Second-year? Wow, I thought she was older." Mitsuha glanced around before leaning closer towards Kana. "And she's so pretty. When I saw her, I didn't expect her to be so incredibly fluent, either. It was a real surprise." She spoke very quietly, but needn't have bothered as the volume of the surrounding students had increased and Erina had already left the room, probably in search of the teacher.

"I know, right? She's the only foreigner – or rather, half-Japanese – at this whole school, as far as I know. Her parents are Japanese and Irish, but she lived in Sweden until middle school. That makes her trilingual at least, it's amazing! And she's just so charismatic, you'll see." It truly was amazing – Mitsuha had had to adapt quickly to the almost overwhelming number of foreign faces once she'd moved to Tokyo, and Shibuya being such a tourist attraction made for even more languages, colours and cultures blending together. Most were from China or America, but she wouldn't be able to point out Sweden or Ireland out on a map if her life was on the line, so for her the beautiful, well-spoken girl was a real source of wonder. Just once of the many differences between her tiny village by the lake and one of the largest cities in the world.

The door opened and Erina walked back in, followed by a teacher Mitsuha could only assume was…Yukino-sensei…

Short dark hair, a slightly pointed chin, bright eyes, a while collared shirt with an open jacket rolled up her forearms…there was no doubt in Mitsuha's mind, this was Yukino Yukari, Mitsuha's literature teacher from Itomori.

She bowed and introduced herself, but Mitsuha couldn't hear a word. Caught like a rabbit in headlights, Mitsuha watched as Yukino-sensei and Erina moved around the class, handing out a piece of paper to each student, until finally her own desk was reached. Yukino put down the paper, looked up at Mitsuha's face, smiled, and paused, her face looking almost as surprised as Mitsuha's own.

"…Mi…Miyamizu?!"

"Hi, Yukino-sensei…how have you been?"

* * *

 **A/N**

I watched _The Garden of Words/Koto no Ha no Niwa_ recently, and this is the result. The idea to make Yukino Yukari (protagonist of _The Garden_ _of Words_ and Mitsuha's literature teacher in _Kimi no Na wa._ ) comes from reviewer aysam . harits09, who suggested having her make a cameo in this story. Well, this goes a bit further than a cameo, but whatever. I really loved the film, and actually I had the idea to put Mitsuha in the literature club before receiving that idea, so it all worked out very nicely.

I was supposed to be a chapter ahead, but I'm not anymore, so any further delays (and by delays I mean laziness) will result in a delay on your end too…but hopefully I can get back on top of things by next chapter. Therefore, uploads will continue to occur thrice per two weeks, as usual. Thanks for reading!

 _Talndir_


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Mitsuha and Yukino looked at each other in amazement for a few more seconds.

"Is that really you, Mitsuha? This is incredible, did you start this year? I'm sure we would've bumped into each other at one point if you'd joined at the same time as I had." Yukino still had her eyes wide with surprise, but she had recovered from the shock far faster than Mitsuha had. Finally Mitsuha managed to get out a reply.

"Ah, yeah, I only just started here last week. Before that I was in Ikebukuro for a while, after we moved from Hida. I didn't expect to meet anyone I knew here, let alone you, sensei." She knew many other former residents of Itomori had moved to Tokyo, but it was such a massive city that the chance of accidentally meeting someone was almost zero. For a teacher and student to end up at the same school, Mitsuha wouldn't have believed it until she saw Yukino walk into the room barely a minute ago.

"Me neither, I haven't kept in contact with many people so finding you here like this is an amazing coincidence." She sat down at the empty desk to Mitsuha's right. To her left, Kana was looking fairly confused and was making a face that very clearly read 'what's going on?'

Yukino, noticing Kana's inquisitive look, reached over and handed her the remainder of the paper forms she was supposed to be handing out. "Here, Kana-chan, you wouldn't mind handing out the rest of these, would you?" Kana nodded and slowly stood up, clearly confused by how Mitsuha and Yukino could possibly know each other.

"So, how are the family doing? Yotsuha must be in junior high…wait a minute, what year are you in? Shouldn't you have graduated already?" Yukino had lowered her voice at that last statement – it was very rare for students to be allowed to retake a year, so that fact should probably be spread around as little as possible.

"Normally I would have, but Dad thought it would be best to retake my second year so that I can be fully prepared for my third. I think it's helping, but it wasn't a very nice school and Dad had to move for work anyway, so I ended up enrolling here," Mitsuha explained. "Yotsuha is in another school as she's not old enough to come here."

"I imagine it must still be tough on Miyamizu-san."

"Yeah, he's moved away from politics now and he's managing a department store. It was pretty hard for all of us actually." Mitsuha paused for a second. "Grandma didn't seem as upset by it all as I expected she would, though…"

"I see. You probably didn't know this, but before I moved back to Itomori, I taught in another school not too far from here." Yukino looked slightly sad about this for some reason – something must have happened that had caused her to leave. "I never expected to come back, but here I am."

"So you know this area quite well, then? Do you have family here?"

"Actually, all my family from Itomori have moved to Osaka – not the city itself, just the prefecture. That's where most of my extended family has lived for a long time. I came back here because…well, I don't know really. I have some good memories of when I used to teach here. Bad memories too, but I prefer the good ones." She smiled a bittersweet smile, and noticing Kana returning to her desk with a few spare forms, Yukino stood up and smiled to Mitsuha. "Well, it's great to see you again. I'm glad you joined the club, you always were good with Japanese." She leaned in a little closer. "I hope you managed to sort out whatever was going on in those last couple of months in Itomori, you seemed a little bit…disconnected, back then. But it looks like you're making the most of your new school, so that's good to see!" And with that, Yukino turned and walked over to Erina, who was drawing something on the blackboard.

"What was that about?" Kana asked. "Do you know Yukino-sensei from somewhere?"

"Yeah, she was my literature teacher before I moved to Tokyo," Mitsuha replied. "I had no idea she'd moved here though, I really hadn't expected to meet anyone I knew when I came here. It was a real surprise for both of us." Mitsuha was still watching Yukino, who was discussing something with Erina. "Anyway, what's this piece of paper? Some kind of questionnaire?" It had some boxes and multiple-choice questions, so Mitsuha reached down to pull a pen out of her bag.

"It's to gauge the interests of the club's members," Kana explained. "This way, Erina and Yukino-sensei know which direction to guide the club towards, to make sure everyone is happy with what they read, but also to stretch and broaden our horizons a bit, you know? For example, there should be a question about a book you want to read but haven't started yet – whatever you put there will become a candidate for the book everyone reads together."

"This kind of thing would be so much easier to do on our phones, just beam the results on the wall or something…" There were several apps made for the precise purpose of asking questions to groups and collating the answers quickly and efficiently, but one thing that never changed, no matter which school you attended, was the strict rule against the use of mobile phones. "Better get started then."

The questions were pretty simple – how much do you read, what's your favourite genre, author, form of entertainment and piece of literature, and so on. Mitsuha and Kana filled out the questions quickly and quietly, as judging by the constant conversation all around them, it seemed that everyone had already finished. As soon as Mitsuha put her pen down, Erina clapped her hands and spoke loudly.

"Your attention, please." The room instantly quietened, and Yukino began to walk around, collecting the papers as she went. Erina continued, more quietly now. "Thank you for filling out the questions. The answers you provide form the basis of what we plan for the club this following year, including any initial ideas for the cultural festival. It would be more efficient to do this as a sort of group voting activity, but some people," and here Erina smiled gently, "are a little shy about their interests, so we prefer to do it all anonymously."

For the next ten minutes, Erina and Yukino went through the answers everyone had given one at a time, asking various questions to the club's members and drawing up a list of possible books that could be enjoyed by everybody over the coming year, as well as some general shortcomings; for example, there was a strong poetry presence in the members but it was found out that not a single member had ever read a play. It was also hinted at that this initial discussion would serve as good food for thought for what the club would do for the cultural festival.

Eventually a book was decided upon – _I Am a Cat_ by Natsume Souseki, a classic satire about the changes occurring during the Meiji period as narrated by a common house cat. It was an extremely famous and influential book, one of the must-reads of contemporary Japanese literature, but almost nobody had read it besides Yukino-sensei.

After the book had been decided upon, the club naturally segmented into several small groups, and the rest of the meeting was simply a time for everyone to get to know each other. Erina came around to see each student individually, and time passed quickly as Kana introduced Mitsuha to some of her friends. Before long it was time to leave, and the two girls left together. In the end, Mitsuha hadn't had another chance to talk to Yukino, but she would have plenty more opportunities in the coming months.

The corridors were fairly empty; with some club meetings still continuing and some having already finished, there were only a few students wandering around – Kana and Mitsuha walked slowly, so by the time they got to the main entrance, all the other club members had already left. As they exchanged their indoor shoes for their outdoor ones and left the main building, Kana began to speak.

"Mitsuha, about Yukino-sensei…" she began, a little nervously.

"What about her?"

"Well, you said she was your literature teacher, right?" Kana elaborated, her voice showing some signs of nervousness. "She used to teach here in Tokyo, but you only just moved here, which means she taught you at the school she worked at just before she started here." Kana looked up at Mitsuha with worried eyes. "She told us once…that she was from Itomori. Are you from there, too?"

At the mention of Itomori, Mitsuha stopped dead in her tracks, and Kana stopped with her. After a moment's pause, she managed to give her friend a reply.

"Yes, I am."

And then, entirely without warning, and with her eyes beginning to fill with tears, Kana wrapped her arms tightly around Mitsuha in a strong embrace. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "It must have been horrible…I saw the damage on TV the next day, it was so lucky everyone was evacuated, otherwise you might have…might have…"

Mitsuha was frozen, her body and mind in a happy state of shock. She had expected endless questions, not a heartfelt apology from a girl she barely knew. After being treated as a novelty in Ikebukuro, to actually be recognised as a victim was…not unpleasant. She'd spent a lot of time considering her choice to hide her association to Itomori, and while she still wanted it to be kept that way, it was strangely uplifting to have someone who was more upset about it than she was.

As these thoughts ran through her head, and her heart's feelings of resentment and fear were replaced by acceptance and understanding, Mitsuha did the only decent thing she could – return Kana's embrace, wrapping her arms firmly yet comfortably around the smaller girl's slim frame. "You don't have to be sorry," she whispered. "It was a long time ago now, and we've all moved on. I partly carried out the evacuation myself, so don't worry, I was there to make sure everybody made it out alive, including myself. We knew it was coming, so we were prepared."

Kana sniffed and looked up. "You…knew? But how?" There was a mixture of sadness and curiosity on her face, and Mitsuha must have looked much the same herself.

"Well…nobody really knows," Mitsuha explained, trying to divulge as few of the confusing details as she could – after all, she herself didn't really know for sure where that knowledge had come from. "Not even the person who ordered the evacuation could tell us that."

Kana let out a small laugh, her grip on Mitsuha slackening slightly. "Were they psychic or something?"

Mitsuha laughed back. "Yeah, maybe, she still isn't too sure herself." Kana's eyes had already dried, and their usual shine was back. _This girl changes moods with the flicking of a switch._ "Well, I guess you know now. You're the first one, actually. Apart from Yukino-sensei, of course."

Kana let go and moved a few inches away, giving back some of Mitsuha's personal space. "I guess you don't want me to tell anyone, right?"

Mitsuha smiled. "I'd prefer it that way, yeah." She took a step back and raised her hand in a wave. "Don't worry about it. I'm not exactly over it, but…well, it's easier if nobody makes a fuss. Anyway, I'll see you Monday, right?"

Kana smiled in return. "Yeah, see you then. Bye!"

The two girls separated, heading in opposite directions. Mitsuha was surprised to find herself more relieved than anything else – she felt she could trust Kana, and it was good to finally tell someone and not receive an interrogation in return. A small weight had been lifted from her shoulders. Perhaps she should tell the others – Taki, Hiraoka and Tsukasa. _I'll think more about that later – for now, let's just enjoy this peaceful feeling. Actually, that reminds me…_

〈◇〉

"Grandma, can I ask you something about Itomori?"

Mitsuha had arrived back home shortly before her dad, and dinner had been served and eaten. Yotsuha was studying in her room, Toshiki was watching the news and Hitoha was just taking out her knitting needles when Mitsuha approached her.

Putting down the needles, her face showed a little surprise as she replied. "Certainly Mitsuha. Although I'm not sure how much I can tell you that you don't already know – the Miyamizu family holds all the knowledge there is on Itomori, and I've told you much as you girls were growing up."

To be honest, Mitsuha wasn't sure Grandma could help her either. What she said was true – Mitsuha and Yotsuha had spent most of their lives under her care, learning about the traditions and history of Itomori in far more depth than anyone else in the small town. But it was worth a try anyway.

"I was wondering if anything at all survived the fire."

The old woman's face became serious. "The Great Fire of Mayugoro? I'm afraid not. Every single document the shrine owned, as well as the shrine itself, was completely destroyed. As it was told to me by my great-grandmother, there was nothing left but ash."

"There are almost no records that survived past the 1820s," Toshiki added, eyes on the TV but mind focused on the adjacent conversation. "All that survived the fire in that area were boring, mostly useless documents. Unless you want to look at old tax records or property deeds, it's a waste of time."

"Your father is correct. As mayor, he was partly responsible for management of any old documents, and as a prior shrine maiden myself, I too had access to those records. I'm afraid nothing of interest remains."

"Is it possible that any documents were copied and sent elsewhere?" Mitsuha asked, desperately clutching at straws – without a lead from Itomori itself, it would be extremely difficult to find any info on the comet that Itomori was founded on 1200 years ago. Above all, she needed to find out what she'd learnt that day she had come to Tokyo. "For example, journalists or historians might have visited and copied some, perhaps?"

"Those documents had restricted access; back in the day it was unheard of for someone not a member of the shrine to be allowed to see them. Only other holy people, from other shrines across the country, were permitted to read them. It's possible there are copies at some other shrine elsewhere in Japan, but unlikely."

"Actually, that's not entirely correct," Toshiki interjected. He muted the volume on the TV and turned to face the two. "There is one interesting surviving record – a visit by an empress."

"An empress?! We had an empress in Itomori?" Mitsuha was rightfully surprised – Itomori was a tiny town and had been for over a thousand years since it had been founded. An empress visiting was truly incredible, especially as there had been less than ten empresses in Japan's almost three millennium long, very male-dominated monarchy. But Hitoha didn't seem so fazed.

"Hmm, yes, I had forgotten about that – Empress Go-Sakuramachi, if my memory serves. Truthfully, I did not believe it when my mother told me, so I never searched the archives for any records. Are there any?"

"Yes, a few. They were the ones kept in the town hall instead of the shrine, so they were mostly administrative in nature. However, if I'm not mistaken, those documents clearly mentioned that the Empress requested, and was given, access to some of the oldest manuscripts the shrine possessed. I'm unsure why she wanted to see them, or why she even came to a town like Itomori in the first place. Any information we had on her visit was either lost in the fire or destroyed when Itomori was."

Toshiki turned back to the TV and unmuted it, leaving the conversation on an unhappy note. "Your grandmother is right – there's nothing left of Itomori but ash." His voice sounded even, but Mitsuha could see the pain on his face as he said those words. For him, who had been mayor for so many years, it was still difficult to recover from the fact that the town had been destroyed while under his governance, even if there was nothing he could have done about it. To save everyone's lives – for him, that still was not good enough. It was at times like these that the extreme Japanese mentality towards work and duty did more harm than good.

So that was it, then. Unless said empress had for some reason decided to make copies of the documents, they were lost forever – no library or researcher would have any information on the history of Itomori.

Still, it was worth looking up this empress anyway. There must have been a reason she visited Itomori, so even if it was a complete shot in the dark, there may still be surviving records in some sort of imperial archive.

〈◇〉

The next day, Mitsuha hung back after last period – it had been a history lesson, and she hoped that the teacher might have some info on the empress her dad had mentioned the previous day. Slowly packing up and making small talk with Hiraoka gave her some time for the majority of students to disperse. Just as Kawasaki-sensei was about to leave, Mitsuha asked Hiraoka to go on without her and moved to the front desk. By then the last few students, Hiraoka included, were just filtering into the corridor, and Mitsuha gave her friend a small wave before turning to the history teacher in front of her.

"Excuse me, sensei, but I have a question about history that I thought you could help with," Mitsuha asked.

"Certainly, what do you need? Is it related to the work I handed out today?" she replied, walking to the door and shutting it to block most of the noise from the corridor. The woman was quite enthusiastic about her subject which made her easy to talk to, but unfortunately for her there just didn't seem to be that much interest in history in their class.

"Actually, it's completely unrelated about what we're studying now," Mitsuha admitted. They were currently studying the Meiji restoration, which occurred in the late nineteenth century, around a hundred years later than what she intended to ask about. "I was wondering what you could tell me about Empress Go-Sakuramachi."

The teacher looked surprised and said as much. "Well, this is unexpected. What would you like to know? I'm not exactly a specialist in that era of history, but I may be able to help you a little, if I know what exactly you need."

At this Mitsuha shuffled her feet awkwardly. "Well, it has to do with…a trip she made. I tried searching around online but couldn't find anything out, so I was wondering if you could help. Apparently, during her reign as Empress she visited Itomori."

"Itomori? My, this is quite a surprise. Where did you find that out?" She continued without waiting for a response. "Well, regardless…it would probably be best to ask Yukino-sensei as she is from Itomori herself, although I doubt she'd know anything about the empress if you can't find any mention of it online. Ah, you're not taught by her, are you? I'll take you to the staff room and introduce you."

"Um, well, I attend the literature club, which she supervises, so actually I do already know her." After this Mitsuha hesitated, but she knew she would have to tell her teacher if she wanted to get any real info. Spurred on by her drive to learn the truth, she spoke confidently. "Actually, I was taught by her before I came here as well, since I'm from Itomori too, so I don't think she'll know any more than I do."

At this statement the eager teacher was truly floored. "You're also from Itomori?! Wow, that's incredible! And to think she taught you there as well! She may still have information you don't though, having lived there longer than you," she suggested.

"I don't think that will be the case, since the only reason I even know about the Empress' visit is because my father was the mayor, so he had access to historical records others didn't. They were all destroyed though, when the comet hit…"

Kawasaki-sensei froze for a moment, before her eyes went wide with revelation. Her voice excited, she spoke to Mitsuha in a rush. "I just remembered – something amazing happened during Go-Sakuramachi's reign that might be relevant. It was during _Meiwa_ 7 that the brightest comet ever sighted in human history passed Earth. It was notably observed here in Japan; there are still old written records of its passing." Her voice lowered, and Mitsuha had to lean in to hear the next part. "It might just be possible…that the comet observed then was the same one that destroyed Itomori."

Mitsuha opened her mouth to say 'that's impossible' but decided against it. It was pure conjecture that Tiamat was the comet involved both in the collision eighteen months ago and in the one that founded Itomori over a thousand years ago. If it was true that both were the same, then it was unlikely that it would return in the eighteenth century and simply pass by another opportunity to wipe her town off the map…but that was almost like admitting it was sentient, and it was all a hypothesis anyway.

However, this comet might be the reason why Empress Go-Sakuramachi had visited Itomori. If she heard that Itomori's lake was created by part of a passing comet falling to Earth, it was only natural to investigate – after all, back then the Japanese knew little about astronomy, and it was often treated with mysticism rather than as a science.

It was worth a shot.

Mitsuha thanked her teacher and began her journey home. She had agreed to keep her updated on anything she found out in exchange for not telling anyone she was from Itomori, which seemed like a pretty fair deal to both parties. She may not have got the exact information she needed, but there was a chance it would be useful. Besides, when it came to astronomy, she already knew exactly who to ask.

〈◇〉

Once Mitsuha arrived home, she greeted her grandmother before making a beeline straight for her sister's room. After a short knock, she heard a muffled 'come in' and entered, closing the door behind her.

Yotsuha was lying on her bed, playing around with her phone. She sat up and looked over to Mitsuha as she came in, slightly surprised – it wasn't often that Mitsuha came to her for anything. "What is it, nee-chan?"

Mitsuha decided some sort of lead in was in order. "You're interested in astronomy, right? You said you'd been learning about it since Itomori."

Yotsuha put down her phone to reply. "Yeah, I got really interested ever since Tiamat destroyed Itomori." Her face didn't flinch at all as she spoke, a vast improvement over last year when even mentioning the event would cause her face to fall, much like the comet itself. "I joined the astronomy club at my school. I want to buy a telescope soon as well, but for now I'm just using the ones the club has."

"I wanted to ask about a comet. Not Tiamat, a different one. How much do you know about them?"

Yotsuha's face brightened. "That's the thing I know the most about! For example, did you know that a comet's tail always points away from the sun?"

Mitsuha made a face. "Really? But then wouldn't it change direction as the sun rose and set…?" As far as she remembered, Tiamat's appearance hadn't changed in the slightest while it was visible…until it broke apart, of course.

Yotsuha sighed dramatically. "Honestly, nee-chan, I thought you were supposed to be good at science. The sun only looks like it's moving 'cause the Earth is rotating, you know. So the tail will always point in the same direction."

"But then wouldn't the tail move as well? Since the sun seems to move, the tail would too, right?" Mitsuha countered.

"Um…yeah, but…" Yotsuha stopped to think for a moment, and just as Mitsuha felt safe in her victory, Yotsuha turned her argument on its head. "No, that wouldn't make just the tail move, it would make the whole comet move. It's why the comet looked like it was moving across the sky, just like how the moon rises and sets." Feeling smart, she took a moment to smirk and show her pride, puffing out her chest. "Honestly, nee-chan, this is basic stuff."

Mitsuha was getting pretty tired of hearing her younger sister say 'honestly, nee-chan' so decided to actually get on with what she was there for. "Alright, you're right, I get it. But I didn't come to talk about comet tails. I wanted to know the name of a specific comet, or the code or whatever they come up with to identify these things."

"Which comet? I mean, you don't know the name, but do you know when it was last sighted?" Yotsuha had picked up her phone again and seemed to be opening some sort of planetarium app.

"Kawasaki-sensei said _Meiwa_ 7, which would be…um…1770?"

"'Kay." Yotsuha tapped away for a second, before stopping and lifting her head. "Wait, did you say 1770? It wouldn't be a super bright comet, would it?"

Mitsuha recalled what the teacher had told her. "Apparently it was the brightest comet ever sighted. Even to the present day, I think." As soon as she finished speaking, Yotsuha put down her phone and looked at Mitsuha with confidence.

"Well, that's easy. That must be Lexell's comet. It's a lost comet, so it's only ever been sighted once, and apart from some tiny asteroid that isn't even big enough to see with most telescopes it's the closest and brightest a comet has ever gotten to Earth. It must be that one."

"Lexell…" Since Kawasaki-sensei had specifically mentioned that the comet was sighted in Japan she had expected a Japanese name, but of course it must have also been sighted elsewhere in the world. "Lexell sounds…European?"

"I don't know. Why are you interested?"

"Oh, it's just…something to do with Itomori," Mitsuha feebly responded. "I thought it might be related to Tiamat."

"Probably not, since Tiamat has been seen at least twice but Lexell's comet is lost and probably won't ever be seen again." Yotsuha offered her expert advice, before going back to her phone.

"Well, thanks for the help." Mitsuha left the room, unsure if it would've just been faster to search it up on the internet, but still impressed by her sister's knowledge. Returning to her own room and taking out her own phone, she looked up some more info.

 _Lexell's comet: Discovered by Charles Messier in June 1770, named after Anders Johan Lexell, who computed its orbit… Last perihelion: August 14, 1770. Next perihelion: unknown/lost… Records show it was observed in Japan and Arabia…_

So Yotsuha and Kawasaki-sensei had been right. Mitsuha had no idea what _perihelion_ meant, but the subsequent words were obvious: nobody had any idea of if or when it would return. It was discovered by a French astronomer – there was a portrait on the webpage, complete with the white curled hair that all the upper-class Europeans seemed to like back in those days.

However, looking up Empress Go-Sakuramachi yielded far less information. It seemed that she abdicated in favour of her nephew, which made her reign short, its only interesting feature the endless supply of natural disasters that occurred near the end of her sovereignty. There were a few mentions of the comet but nothing linking the Empress either directly or indirectly to it, other than the fact that it occurred while she sat on the throne.

Mitsuha grimaced. The fun was over – it would be all work and no play from here on out.

* * *

 **A/N**

I ended up doing a lot of research for this chapter – one thing lead to another and I'd accidentally found a reason for an empress to visit little old Itomori. Of course, the Empress didn't actually visit Itomori in real life, but 99% of what I say here (and in future chapters) will be true to real history.

Not much Taki lately – I'll be remedying that soon. And for those of you who want more interactions between our two lovebirds, well, things will get going soon enough. I know it's a slow burn, but please bear with me. I've been trying to come up with more excuses to have them hang out but nothing seems plausible; a few more chapters and things will begin to really move, on multiple fronts.

In other news, my free time is going to be murdered – one and a half degrees worth of lectures, some mega coursework, learning Japanese through an optional uni course, and I'm in a play…hopefully I'll just write more on the weekends and get stuff out on time. These last three chapters have just been so difficult to write, but we're still on schedule…somehow. As usual, leave a comment if you have any feedback. Thanks for reading!

 _Talndir_


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

 _I'm getting dressed for school. My uniform is different. I have a red bow just below my neck, and the colours are white and red rather than blue and green. I also have long hair, but I don't know how to tie it properly, so I just make a rough ponytail with a red braided ribbon. I look in the mirror, but I can't remember what I saw._

 _I leave my bedroom. It's just how it always is when I dream – Japanese style, with tatami mats and sliding doors. Looking out the window, I can see the sky, and there are no large buildings. It's definitely somewhere very far from Tokyo._

 _I go down the hall and into the living room. I'm asked why I'm wearing my uniform, and going back to my room to look at my calendar I see that today is a Sunday. I can't remember the exact date though. I replace my uniform with a more casual set of clothes._

 _I can't remember why, but next I'm walking up a hill. It's evening and a little bit cold. It's so green, and so fresh and clean. The old woman and the girl who calls me 'sis' are with me. We come to a stream, and the old woman tells us about knots, and souls, and other things I don't understand. She tells us that beyond the stream is_ kakuriyo, _the realm of the dead._

 _We cross the stream, and I carry the old woman on my back. She tells us about_ kuchikamizake _, and I see my reflection in the water, but it's moving so much that I can't tell what I see there. My body feels different, but not by much. I'm shorter, and I walk and move differently, but I'm still quite physically fit as I don't feel tired after carrying the woman._

 _It's_ kataware-doki _._

 _She asks me if I'm dreaming. I wake up. I'm crying._

〈◆〉

Taki closed the notebook, having just re-read the latest entry in his dream journal. For the last two months he'd been writing down the contents of all his dreams. At first it was impossible to make any sense of them – by the time he'd sluggishly moved to his desk, opened the notebook at the right page and uncapped a pen, he'd forgotten most of the dream. There would just be some vague shapes and sounds – a person's silhouette or the odd spoken word.

But slowly, he managed to piece things together. The dreams still evaporated from his mind faster than he could put them to paper, but he was beginning to spot patterns and make out things that he hadn't previously understood. Taki was sure he'd had this same dream a few times before over the last six months, but only after writing everything down could he connect the dots and really describe what he'd seen and heard.

There were some strange words in there as well. _Kuchikamizake_ – it wasn't the first dream that word had been mentioned. It only took a little research to find out what that was, but why they talk about it so much was still a mystery to Taki. Then there was _kakuriyo_ , which just means underworld. But _kataware-doki_ was a new one. He would have to find out what it meant later. Perhaps he should ask that girl Mitsuha hangs out with sometimes, what was her name…Kana? Apparently she was a bit of a wizard when it came to archaic words and characters.

Mitsuha…it was her arrival that had triggered this. Not that Taki was complaining – on the contrary, finding the one person who could acknowledge and understand his strange feelings and memories was what had spurred him to record his dreams. They hadn't spoken at all about that kind of thing, but he could tell she was trying to figure it out as well, in her own way.

Taki put down the notebook, exchanging it for a sketchbook and some pencils. He'd also started to sketch what he saw in his dreams. Some of them were familiar, almost identical to ones he'd done in the weeks leading up to his visit to Itomori. Others were…not so similar. Only one of the pieces he'd done back then was verifiably of Itomori itself, so it was possible that even if those older sketches were also from his dreams, that they weren't of Itomori at all. And now that the entire town was gone, there was almost no way to check for sure. Unless he showed them to Mitsuha…but that was still pure conjecture.

There was one thing Taki desperately wanted to draw, the one thing that had eluded him thus far in his dreams. Every time he saw a mirror, it was as if a hole had been cut out of his field of vision and he just couldn't see what was reflected back. Immediately after waking, he would still remember the lingering feelings of strangeness, curiosity and…happiness, whenever his dreaming self saw its reflection. But those feelings would turn to frustration as he wrote down the dream's events – _I look in the mirror_ , he would write, then pause, rack his mind and memories, before finally giving up and finishing with _but I can't remember what I saw._ Even in the stream, no details of his reflection could be made out. It was agonising. All he knew was that he was a girl, and even then it had taken him a good few weeks to realise that long hair, wearing a skirt and having a girl call you 'sis' doesn't tend to happen to guys. But he wanted to know more about this girl whose life he lived in his dreams. He _needed_ to know.

Removing his rain jacket from his rucksack, Taki put his sketchbook in the laptop pouch, then put his pencils into a box and added them to the main compartment. There was still a mostly full water bottle from a few days ago, so he should be good to go. Grabbing his wallet, phone and train pass (just in case), he slung the bag onto his back and left his room.

"Hey Dad, just going out for some sketching."

"No problem." Taki's dad was sitting at the table, a mug of tea in one hand and a newspaper in the other. "Just be back by five, I want to start dinner around then so I can watch the match."

"Five? I'll probably only be out for a few hours max, so I'll definitely be back by then."

After putting on his shoes and heading out the door, Taki made his way through the streets of his district towards Shinjuku Gyoen, a nearby national park. It was only ten minutes' walk away, and he had begun to visit there more often to gain inspiration for his artwork. As someone who prefers the peace of open nature to the hustle and bustle of regular city life, this particular park had become one of his favourite places to come when lacking motivation. More recently, the improving weather and his familiarity with the area meant it was relatively easy to find a well-lit, fairly deserted area to sit in.

Fortunately, it was around ten o'clock so the majority of tourists and other visitors hadn't yet arrived, giving Taki plenty of spots to choose from. Today he wanted to sketch the dream he'd had last night – the one he'd just re-read, of climbing a hill and crossing a stream to reach the underworld. For this one, he wanted an open space, like the depression at the crest of the hill. Being an enormous park meant there were plenty of open spaces, and luckily there was a sizeable one almost devoid of visitors. Seating himself at the edge, he unpacked his pad and pencils, and began to translate the dream he'd experienced into something more tangible.

Over the next hour, Taki sat and sketched, completely absorbed in his work as he overlaid the scene from his dream onto the landscape before him. Although the terrains looked nothing alike, the greenery and serenity of his surroundings allowed Taki to focus intensely on bringing his sometimes distinct, often vague, memories to life. A fair few people had come and gone, but Taki had ignored them all. Some walked on, others paused to briefly look at his work, but none dared approach after seeing his absolute concentration.

It was only when he stopped to sharpen one of his pencils for the second time that he flexed his hands and took a break, finally realising how much time had passed. Taking a good look at his sketch so far, Taki didn't feel any sense of pride or accomplishment, only determination to finish it, and satisfaction at the day's productivity. However, he would get no more out of the park today; knowing this, he briefly rested, took a drink from his bottle, then packed up and left.

…Actually, there was one more thing he could do today. It had come to the point where it was almost guaranteed that the places he was drawing and dreaming of were Itomori – there was just too much evidence, too many links. So instead of walking eastwards towards his home, Taki went north, to Shinjuku-Gyoemmae station. To be honest, he wasn't sure which route would be faster, from Gyoemmae or from Yoyogi, but the latter would need at least one change before he reached his destination, and he was already fairly close to the northern edge of the park. In fact, that station was really close to his favourite café…

〈◆〉

Just under forty minutes and one snack later, Taki arrived at his destination – the National Diet Library, national library of Japan and one of the largest in the world. There was one particular book that he was looking for, one that he was sure the library would have a copy of – "Itomori: The Town that Vanished." It contains all the information there is on Itomori in one single place, including photographs and a list of all the victims… _no, that can't be right, since there weren't any victims, were there?_

His mind in a mess from conflicting memories of the last time he'd seen the book in question, Taki entered the library through the main entrance. However, the gates wouldn't open for his ID card – it must have expired. He could vaguely remember being told it would only be valid for a year, but it was worth a try anyway. No matter – he'd just turned eighteen one month prior, so there should be no problems in extending the validity or just getting a new one. Taki followed the signs to the visitors' entrance where they issue ID cards, but before even seeing the reception, he heard voices.

"…called a few days ago," a familiar voice was saying.

"One moment…yes, I have you registered here. Please wait for a minute while I make you a day pass." That must be the receptionist speaking. A few moments later, Taki rounded the corner and saw a girl with her hair tied up with a red ribbon. There was no doubt as to who she was.

"Mitsuha?" She turned as her name was called, and her face reflected his own surprise. "What are you doing here?" Mitsuha huffed and crossed her arms, and Taki realised too late the tone he'd just taken. "Um, that is-"

"You do know this is a public library, right? And besides, I could ask you the same question."

Taki scratched his head awkwardly. "Ah, you know what I mean. I just didn't expect to meet anyone I knew here, it's not the kind of place you can find the latest bestsellers. I'm only here because there's a specific book I need to see, and I knew for sure that they'd have it here."

Mitsuha relaxed somewhat and gave her own answer. "I need to look at some old manuscripts and things, and as far as I know, this library has the only copies."

Taki's eyebrows rose questioningly. "Manuscripts? This must be some really old stuff." Since it was the national library of Japan, most important old documents, even ones thousands of years old, were housed here, but why did Mitsuha need them? "What kind of stuff?"

"Eighteenth century." Mitsuha dodged the question, instead countering with one of her own. "What book are you looking for?"

Considering that Taki strongly suspected Mitsuha was from Itomori but didn't yet want to bring it up, that wasn't a question he wanted to answer. "Oh, it's on some…natural disaster, from a while ago. Just something I'm interested in." He tried to make his answer as vague as possible, and although Mitsuha clearly wanted more detail, she was forced to turn towards the receptionist as he handed her her day pass – a single day ID card, unlike Taki's regular one. That reminded him-

"Excuse me, but I think my card's expired. Since I'm eighteen now, could I have it renewed permanently?" The man took the card, scanned it, and started to tap away at a computer.

Usually you need to be over eighteen to be allowed into the library, but there are exceptions for students whose studies would be hindered without access to the special resources and materials the library had to offer. Last year, everyone in second year was required to do a group research project on an important place in Tokyo, and Taki's group had been given the National Diet Library. Since they were researching it, it was only natural that they required access to the building itself, and it had really helped them in their work. Now that he was eighteen, he could just get his existing pass renewed instead of filling out all the paperwork for a new one or getting a temporary day pass like Mitsuha.

"Here you go," the receptionist said as he handed back Taki's card. "The librarian you spoke to a few days ago will be here soon," he informed Mitsuha, before going back to his work.

"Is someone taking you around?" Taki asked.

"The documents I'm looking for are really old and are originals, and some of them are badly damaged, so the librarian I talked to over the phone will be showing me them." She still hadn't elaborated on what those documents were, but since he'd deliberately avoided telling her the same, it would be best not to push it.

"Alright, well I need to find my book. There are electronic catalogues back in the main lobby, so I guess I'll catch you later." He walked past Mitsuha and scanned his newly renewed card, and this time the gate opened. Just before he left, purely on impulse, he looked back – and saw Mitsuha looking at him and smiling slightly. She raised her eyebrows at him, questioning why he was turning back towards her, and he glimpsed one end of the red cord that always tied her hair.

"Do you…do you want to meet up later? After you're done?" Taki's voice was calm and easily carried over the few metres that separated them, but what was coming out his mouth was only just being registered by his brain, and his heartrate quickened. "Since we're here and all…"

Mitsuha's face was momentarily surprised, but then her smile grew. "Yes, I would be delighted. Should we just meet here?" There were a few chairs and tables around, so it was a decent place to wait.

"Yeah, sure. See you later." With a small wave, Taki turned and rounded the corner – but not before catching the eye of the receptionist, who was trying to hide a tiny smile.

〈◆〉

Using one of the digital catalogues in the main lobby, Taki soon found the book he was looking for. In fact, the library didn't have any physical copies – the only way to view the book was digitally, so he went upstairs to find a computer. The library was very quiet, as most libraries are, but also quite empty. It wasn't difficult to find an empty desk, and he sat down and logged in with his ID card number. Opening the book viewing service, he searched for the book he needed and opened it up in the viewer.

 _Itomori: The Town that Vanished._

He'd flicked through it once several months ago but couldn't remember much. It was probably in Hida, when he'd taken that trip to Itomori last autumn. It was definitive guide on Itomori. Since the town was so small and unknown, there wasn't much information about it, and not that many photographs, but everything that could be found would be in the book, Taki was sure of it.

To be honest with himself, he didn't really know why he was reading it. There was just a feeling that there might be something to trigger some forgotten memories, or a way to definitively prove (or disprove) that his dreams were actually of Itomori.

Taki opened the digital book at the first page, which contained a double-page spread of a photo of Itomori before it was destroyed. You could see the entire town, curving around the perfectly circular lake, and the way it simply sat there alongside nature reminded him exactly why he liked the country so much. Taki didn't recognise anything, but he couldn't remember ever having any dreams of actually leaving Itomori; it was to be expected that he wouldn't have seen such an image before, except of course from the last time he'd looked through this book nine months ago. Over the image was written the date of the impact – October 4th, 2015. Moving along to the next page, Taki began to read the introduction:

 _Itomori: The Town that Vanished._

 _On the eve of October 4th 2015, the small town of Itomori, located near Hida city in the prefecture of Gifu, was completely and utterly destroyed. During the preceding month, comet Tiamat had been visible over the skies of Japan, with its beautiful colours gracefully trailing after it every night. The splitting of this comet, for reasons still yet unknown, caused a large piece to fall to Earth; it was this that erased the very existence of the town known as Itomori._

 _Miraculously, there were no fatalities – all 1,500 residents were evacuated safely, and there were only 104 injuries, none of them more serious than concussion and minor memory loss. Even more incredible is the legend passed down among the Itomori residents – that the lake along which Itomori laid was in fact formed by a falling comet around 1,200 years ago. Many of them believe that the comet that destroyed their hometown, and the one that formed it, are one and the same._

 _Now, almost one year on, most of those residents have moved away and put the terrifying disaster behind them, but some of them have been willing to recount their experiences for us in this book. We will explain Itomori's history and culture, complete with…_

Taki skipped that last bit and moved on to the next page, where he was greeted with a two-page photograph of Itomori in ruins. His breath caught, as a surge of unexplained emotions rushed up through his stomach and chest, but still he forced himself to take a good look. The town was unrecognisable, with a second circular depression partially overlapping the original one, turning the lake's shape into an eight. Collapsed buildings and rubble were everywhere, with only a few buildings at one end of the town left relatively unscathed. It was completely uninhabitable.

Taki began to click through the pages, ignoring most of the text and focusing on the photographs. Some parts seemed strangely familiar, while others were completely foreign to him. The first part of the book focused on Itomori's destruction, with a lot of before and after photos of various important areas and around the actual impact site. Seeing one particular image, Taki recalled the scene he'd been drawing earlier that morning. He opened up a web browser and navigated to Google Maps, searching for 'Itomori' in the top bar.

As expected, the satellite imagery was of the now-destroyed town. However, Taki wasn't looking for the town itself, but a hill located very close to it. After a few minutes of searching, he found it, confirming his suspicions.

Before him was an aerial photograph of a plateau in a depression atop a hill just outside the town. In the centre was a stone structure, and around it was a stream. There was no doubt about it – this was _kakuriyo_ , the underworld he had dreamed about. The hill, the water, the grass…all was exactly as he had dreamt and drawn.

Taki let out the breath he had been subconsciously holding in, and his body relaxed. _So it's true, I really do have some sort of connection with that place._ For so long, he had been confused and conflicted by his obsession with a small town in the country, not even remembering what had happened on his visit there. But now he had confirmation. While it still didn't answer the question of what those dreams really meant, it at least put his mind to ease, knowing that whatever was going on wasn't just all a silly fantasy. Those dreams…no, those _memories_ , they were real, in one way or another.

Given sudden energy by this weight coming off his shoulders, Taki switched back to his reading application and continued to run through the pages, hoping to spot more landmarks he could remember from his dream journal. _Damn, I should've brought it with me, and all my drawings too._ Taki always tore out his artwork and stored it safely once he was finished with it, so currently the only piece in the sketchbook he was carrying was the drawing he had been doing that day. Trying to recall as much of his dreams and drawings as he could, he nearly missed a single word that struck out at him like lightning.

 _Miyamizu._ He was sure he'd just seen…there! Two pages back, in the section on the cultural traditions of Itomori, there was the name. _Miyamizu Shrine_. A shrine…so Mitsuha was from a family of shrine maidens? The image looked very familiar – a _torii_ gate at the top of a stone flight of stairs. Below was some more information, and Taki read it eagerly, long-forgotten memories reliving themselves in his mind between the words:

 _The Miyamizu have been a family of_ miko _for over a thousand years. Although belief in the old Shinto gods is waning, the shrine still stood as the centrepiece of the town, with a long, established history of tradition and respect. The shrine was closely tied to the affairs of the town, with the last mayor, Miyamizu Toshiki, even taking their name when marrying into the family-_

 **He tells me I must be sick, that it comes from her mother, not him, and it makes me rage. He continues in that hard, emotionless voice, threatening to call a doctor and have me taken to a hospital. Such mistrust in his own daughter – my blood boils and I grab him by his tie, one foot on his desk and my mouth spraying spittle into his face. "You son of a…!" Finally I coerce something out of him as his face twists in fear. "Mitsuha! No…who…who are you?"**

 _The shrine is, of course, the primary location of all festival activities, which makes it even more incredible that there were no fatalities – the comet in fact struck on the day of the autumn festival, directly onto the shrine itself._

" **Grandma, listen. A comet will strike Itomori tonight and everyone will die," I tell her grandmother. "Nobody will believe that," she replies, but I can't bring myself to get angry at her. If she knows about the dreams as well, and if they really were all for what will happen today, then I'm the only one who can change things. No, not me –** _ **she**_ **is the only one…**

 _Legend goes that the lake around which Itomori lay was formed by the falling of a comet, and the shrine paid tribute to the god who brought it down; many residents believe that the falling of the comet once again was inevitable, just the way things were meant to be._

" **It's just a what-if, right?" But I know better. "Do you know how Lake Itomori was formed?" And then they realise that the meteor that struck this land centuries ago will strike once again tonight, and that we are the only ones who can do anything. Us – and her.**

 _The most important tradition of the Miyamizu is that of cord-braiding (see next page) – weaving together hundreds of strands of thread in an extremely specific pattern, yielding beautiful cords of incredible strength and resilience. Unfortunately, the meaning of the patterns and the weaving has been lost through time._

" **Musubi?" I ask. "Musubi is the old way of calling the local guardian god. This word has profound meaning." I don't quite understand what she's saying, but I don't interrupt. "It means 'tying thread.' It also means 'connecting people' and 'the flow of time.' These are all the god's power. So the braided cords that we make are the god's art, which represent the flow of time itself."**

 _Below:_ Miko _perform their traditional dance at a festival, before creating_ kuchikamizake _to offer to their deity. This image, taken with a spectator's phone, is the only known photograph of this beautiful performance. Yet another piece of tradition is lost to the Itomori incident._

 **We've crossed the stream and move towards the stone structure where the god of the Miyamizu lies. "In exchange for returning to this world, you must leave behind what is most important to you. The** _ **kuchikamizake**_ **." I'm confused. "The** _ **kuchikamizake?"**_ **I ask. "You'll offer it inside the god's body. It's half of you," she explains. I feel overwhelmed. What I'm holding, is no less than half of her…half of-**

Below is an image of two girls doing a traditional dance at the shrine, wearing pale make-up and white kimono, holding and swinging golden bells and red ribbons.

 _But I don't even need to look to know who it will be. Because I didn't just dream her life, I lived it. The girl I see in the mirror every time I sleep…is Mitsuha._

* * *

 **A/N**

The threads are coming together (pun completely intended)! Finally, we get to see what Taki's been up to. The book 'Itomori: The Town that Vanished' is featured in the film – you can see Taki reading it in the library in Hida. Thanks to that, and his diligent sketching and, uh, dream-journaling? Well anyway, he's finally convinced that he and Mitsuha have something going, and they can finally have a heart-to-heart – that is, if I let them…

To clarify, the timeskip is between two and three months – if that wasn't clear, please say so and I will add something a bit more obvious. Next chapter we will see what Mitsuha has been doing, and rest assured, she hasn't been idle. The story is finally kicking into a higher gear!

Thanks so much for the reviews, but unfortunately I can't respond to them if you post as a guest, sorry! Here's a pretty hilarious one I got from an anon:

 _"Finally, another of the predicted 10% of Sturgeon's law._

 _It's not filling in one of the gaps, so this is an AU. Seems good, not a fucking rip of the movie script. Decent grammar, characters talk naturally._

 _Oh right, there is something wrong. All works like these come from college students strapped on time, feelsbadman. Have fun with your lectures lol"_

Made me chuckle. Anyway, thanks for reading!

 _Talndir_

* * *

 **23/10/2018:** Reworded a sentence, fixed Taki treating a digital book like a physical one (thanks Le (guest) and bigpboy).


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Mitsuha woke, sluggishly bringing her arms up to protect her face from the dull light filtering through the curtains. Rolling to one side to hide from the vicious sun, she stretched out her arm…only to lose her balance on the edge of the bed and tumble onto the floor in an undignified heap of duvet and bed head, landing with a muffled yelp and a bump.

"Damn beds…give me a futon any day of the week…" It took her a few seconds to finally break the surface of her covers, before finding new comfort on the floor and shutting her eyes again. _It's the weekend anyway, a few more minutes won't hurt…_

… _it's the weekend?_ Suddenly Mitsuha couldn't bear to keep her eyes closed any longer, and she rose so fast she made herself dizzy. Of course, today was the day! The day everything would come together – two months of research, culminating in the one visit she would be making today!

Ever since she'd moved to Tokyo, Mitsuha had had a theory – a theory as to why she'd suddenly jumped on a train and come to Tokyo the day before Itomori had been destroyed. The only logical conclusion, she had thought, was that she'd somehow found some information about the comet that had founded Itomori and had come to Tokyo to verify that it was in fact comet Tiamat. Of course, since she'd lost all memory of the weeks leading up to the Itomori incident, that theory would have to be verified the hard way – retracing her steps.

There was just one problem – the more research Mitsuha did, the more she learnt and discovered, the less sure she was of herself. Over time, she'd begun to remember more and more fragments of those lost weeks, and nothing struck out at her as being in any way related to Tiamat. In fact, by now she could remember almost everything about her trip to Tokyo, and she recalled spending most of the day wandering around Shinjuku and riding trains to various, seemingly random, destinations. Of course, there were still some holes in her memory here and there, but right now her initial hypothesis seemed downright impossible.

That was, until she received that fateful phone call just a few days ago.

〈◇〉

The sun was bright as Mitsuha stepped from the street to the visitors' entrance of the National Diet Library. Over the last couple of months she'd had multiple correspondences with a researcher here, and their combined work had yielded what they would be seeing today. It had been a long road to finally arrive at the documents she had been looking for, and they had been just a short subway ride away the entire time. It was…exhilarating, to finally be here.

"Good afternoon, can I help you?" the receptionist asked. Mitsuha barely caught a glimpse of two women walking round the corner as she entered, but now she was alone save the man in front of her.

"Yes, I have a meeting arranged with Tokumaru-sensei. My name is Miyamizu, I called a few days ago." Tokumaru-sensei was the one Mitsuha had been emailing to, and she was almost more nervous about finally meeting the professor than actually seeing what she came for.

"One moment…yes, I have you registered here. Please wait for a minute while I make you a day pass," the receptionist responded, looking at his computer screen for a few seconds before going to what must be the card fabrication machine.

Mitsuha heard footsteps from where she'd entered from, but before she could turn to look, she recognised the voice that called out to her. "Mitsuha?" Her face must surely be as surprised as his; he was the last person she was expecting to meet today. "What are you doing here?"

Mitsuha crossed her arms and threw the question right back at him, and Taki stumbled to backtrack over what he'd just asked. After he answered his own question, Mitsuha relented and gave her own answer. "I need to look at some old manuscripts and things, and as far as I know, this library has the only copies."

"Manuscripts?" She could see the curiosity on his face before he even asked. "What kind of stuff?"

"…Eighteenth century." Mitsuha cleanly dodged the question, and asked Taki the same to keep the conversation off her. Not that it did any good – from his vague answer, it seemed that Taki didn't want to say what he was here for either. Well, that was fine by her; considering the own secrets she was keeping, it would be hypocritical to assume others would be completely forthcoming in information.

The receptionist handed Mitsuha her ID card, valid for that day only, and proceeded to renew Taki's. "The librarian you spoke to a few days ago will be here soon," he informed Mitsuha, before turning back to his computer monitor and continuing with…whatever receptionists do when there aren't any visitors. Taki and Mitsuha tried to make some conversation, but since both were clearly not comfortable with speaking about what they'd come for, Taki made to leave and find a catalogue.

Mitsuha watched him go, a small smile on her face. Even when they were both being so awkward, being with Taki felt…comfortable. There had been some connection, some long-forgotten memories and feelings between them, that they had discovered as soon as they'd met. But despite not discussing those things at all, there was no unease or wariness around the other, only a strange sense of trust. Being around Taki made Mitsuha relaxed, in a nervous way – if that makes any sense at all.

Just as she was beginning to space out, Taki turned and caught her smiling at him – which almost caused her to smile even more, in embarrassment. Instead, Mitsuha questioningly raised her eyebrows at him, and he responded with something she hadn't realised she'd been wanting to hear. "Do you…do you want to meet up later? After you're done? Since we're here and all…"

Mitsuha finally let her smile get the better of her, for once letting her emotions genuinely show on her face. "Yes, I would be delighted." _I wonder how long I've been waiting for him to ask me that…_

〈◇〉

"Good afternoon, I'm Tokumaru Satsuki. It's so lovely to finally meet you." The woman who'd introduced herself stood before Mitsuha in the main lobby, just past the receptionist's desk. She was very tall, with hair slightly curled at the ends falling to just below her shoulders, and on her sharp features were perched a pair of stylish red glasses. Her eyes smiled along with her mouth, as she held out her hand for Mitsuha to shake.

"I'm Miyamizu Mitsuha. Nice to meet you," she replied, taking the offered hand and shaking it; or rather, having it shaken, as the researcher had a much firmer grip than she did.

"Come on, let's go upstairs. I can't wait!" Turning and walking back the way she'd come, Mitsuha had to hurry to keep up with her long strides. "It's been terribly interesting talking to you, you've really opened me up to a different area of research I haven't been involved in for quite some time. And I think you're in a perfect position to shed some light on the documents I'm about to show you." As Mitsuha was led up many flights of stairs, the excitable Tokumaru continued on.

"Originally I was fairly certain we didn't have the kind of manuscripts you were looking for. But you just seemed so…focused, I suppose is the word, that I decided I should have a closer look. For some reason you seemed really adamant that they should be here, and sure enough, I managed to find something that may match what you're searching for." Finally reaching their destination floor, Mitsuha was led down a short corridor and into a hallway that seemed to have some sort of restricted access to it. "A lot of what I'm about to show you has become horribly corroded, and many words are completely illegible, which is why it was all particularly hard to find. It seems we'll be the first to properly examine and categorise these particular items. Oh, how wonderful!"

Tokumaru then opened a side door, leading them into a small room clearly used for examining old documents. Around the central table were two trolleys and a number of instruments, most of which Mitsuha couldn't even recognise. On the table itself was a large lamp, and below it were a number of closed cases, similar to flight cases but slightly thinner.

"So, here we are. But before we start, there's something I'd like to know," Tokumaru said, turning around and sitting on the edge of the desk. "I'd very much like you to tell me how you came to know that these documents existed at all, let alone that they were housed here. I run this department and I didn't even know their contents until a few days ago, so I really am quite curious."

Mitsuha swallowed, not because she was nervous, but because the look in the scholar's eyes had become very bright, almost predatory. "Well, as you know, Tokumaru-sensei-"

"Oh please, just Satsuki," she interjected. "No need to be so formal anymore."

"…as I said in the emails, I'm from Itomori myself." Mitsuha's audience of one nodded eagerly, so she ploughed on. "Well, there's a very old legend in Itomori. You know about its destruction, of course?"

"Oh, naturally. It was a miracle, both the town's destruction and its successful evacuation. I daresay there's nobody in Japan who doesn't know of it."

"Well, actually, the old legend I mentioned is about Itomori's founding. The town is built around a lake called Lake Itomori, and the story passed down in my family is that the lake was made by a falling comet."

"Wait, seriously? Are you actually implying…"

"From the stories, it seems that the comet that created Itomori back then was the same comet – Tiamat – that destroyed it this time around."

"Incredible! But you mentioned the story is passed down in your family specifically. Why is that?"

"Because I come from a family of shrine maidens, who have served Miyamizu shrine in Itomori since its founding twelve centuries ago. All the history and legends of Itomori have been passed down through us. So it should be simple enough to show that the comets are the same just by looking at the old records. The problem is, two hundred years ago," and here Mitsuha paused for a moment, "the sandal-maker Mayuguro's bathroom caught on fire and burned down the entire shrine!" she suddenly revealed.

This did not have the effect that Mitsuha was hoping for. "Mmhm" was the only response from Satsuki. "So all the documents were destroyed, I presume. An annoyingly common occurrence, unfortunately."

"Is that so…" Mitsuha had been hoping for a more dramatic reaction, but so be it. "Anyway, all our history was lost, so although all the traditions and practices of the shrine have been passed on, all of its meaning has been lost. That includes pretty much everything about Itomori's founding. But, a few documents that were kept in the village hall instead of the shrine did survive, and one of them mentioned a visit by Empress Go-Sakuramachi."

"Ah yes, you did mention this. I was wondering how you managed to get that kind of information. So that's how you knew. But what has that got to do with these documents? How did you make the link?"

"It took a long time. First I learned about the reason for her visit – there was a comet called Lexell's comet that passed by during her reign, and it's famous because it's the closest a visible comet has ever gotten to Earth. Since she visited Itomori during that time, and since there are many records of the comet throughout Japan, I thought it likely that she'd visited Itomori to learn more about it, since we have that strange link with Tiamat."

Satsuki's face was impassive, silently absorbing and processing Mitsuha's hypothesis, so she continued. "Since my Dad was mayor, he was in charge of those records and could remember what some of them said. Apparently they mentioned that the empress had specifically requested access to some of the shrine's oldest and most secret documents. I don't know how familiar you are with shrines…?" Satsuki shook her head, so Mitsuha decided a full explanation was in order. "There are certain rituals and documents that aren't shared with others outside the shrine, except perhaps to other shrines. But since this was the empress, she would definitely be given access. I suspected that she'd read and made copies of some of the information we had on comet Tiamat, since comets were quite a supernatural event back in those days, so it would make sense that people would want to know as much as possible about them."

"And you're saying these documents," and here she patted the cases on the table, "are those copies? Isn't that a bit of a stretch? I mean, they could be anywhere in Japan."

Now the adventure begins. "Well, at first I thought they would most likely be here since this is the largest library in Japan. But then I realised that they were probably sent to the Imperial Palace in Kyoto, since this was before the Meiji restoration, so the empress would be living in Kyoto, not Tokyo. So I did some research, and I found a museum in Kyoto that had some very promising manuscripts. But when I visited, I found that the Imperial Palace had been destroyed by a typhoon during Empress Go-Sakuramachi's reign, and a lot of important things had been relocated to all over the country. Luckily, while the museum didn't have what I was looking for, I did manage to verify that the empress had visited Itomori, and that many old documents had been sent to Tokyo for preservation."

"But how did you pinpoint their location to be here?" Satsuki was still not quite convinced.

"It was…a lucky guess, really," Mitsuha sheepishly explained. "It just happened to all work out. If I were to guess one place in Japan where they might be, I would guess here."

"…well, I must say, you are one lucky girl. Because what I'm about to tell you will really blow your mind." Satsuki stood up and turned on the lamp above the desk, before checking the cases on the desk and trolley. "You see, Kyoto Imperial Palace wasn't the only place that disaster struck during that particular empress' reign. Do you know the nickname given to the ninth year of her reign?" Mitsuha shook her head, so Satsuki told her. " _Meiwaku_."

Mitsuha thought for a moment. " _Meiwaku_? Isn't that just a concatenation of _Meiwa_ and _ku_ , meaning ninth year of _Meiwa_?" Then she got it. "Ah, you mean _meiwaku_ , as in trouble?"

"That's right. Within four months, there was a fire and two massive storms, bringing floods and strong winds and destroying thousands of houses in Edo – that is, Tokyo. Museums, shrines and libraries lost many artefacts, pieces of art…a lot of things. So, the people of the time nicknamed the year _meiwaku_. The documents I have here," she patted the case she now had open in front of her, "have been through a lot, and aren't exactly unscathed. Most of them have probably been destroyed completely, it's a miracle even this much survived. You're incredibly lucky that there's anything even remotely legible left to examine." And with that, she donned a pair of gloves, beckoned Mitsuha over to her side of the desk, angled the lamp just so, and carefully extracted from the open case before her the most delicate piece of paper Mitsuha had ever seen.

It was roughly one foot square, mostly yellowed with frayed edges. In the top-left corner, much of the parchment had become corroded or eaten by insects, and there were small holes all over the finely written black text that covered the page. There was luckily a large margin, which meant that the flaky edges near the top and bottom didn't obscure the beginnings and ends of each line.

There was also a massive gaping hole, clearly the work of fire judging by its black edges, smack bang in the centre of the ancient piece. "Well, that's going to be a bit hard to read…" Mitsuha murmured. A cursory glance at the writing revealed some fairly old characters – archaic, even. "This seems much older than it should be."

Satsuki gently centred the old document under the lamp, making sure not to further damage the decrepit thing. "Well, we are talking about royalty here. In their time, emperors and empresses were hailed as gods. We couldn't have them using regular old speech like all us peasants now, could we? When it comes to texts written by nobles or emperors, you can expect the writing to be much more sophisticated and, well, old." The researcher shrugged. "I'm not too good with old Japanese – my area of focus is the Meiji restoration, and by then the language was already very similar to what we use today. For now, I just wanted to show you a few important manuscripts and have you verify that they are in fact what we think them to be."

"So, let's start with this one then. This particular document was the one that tipped me off. Judging by the age of the material and style of writing, as well as some of the language used, it can be dated to around the time we're looking at – sometime between 1730 and 1800, I'd say. And _Meiwaku_ sits right in the middle of that, at 1772. The geography mentioned seems to match the area, but the name of the place that this document is, well, documenting, is never noted. But there are a few curious phrases…"

Satsuki began to point out a few areas of interest. There were quite a few words Mitsuha didn't understand, and some characters she didn't even recognise. Since the top-left corner was completely gone, the first few sentences were incomprehensible, and so was the majority of the middle section of the text. In fact, putting it all together, Mitsuha couldn't even work out what it was trying to describe. _Something about a town…some natural disaster? No, that's a different word…wait, here it says something about mountains. But there are mountains all over Japan…hang on, what's this?_ Mitsuha peered closely to one particular sentence, left mostly unscathed by the weathering of time, and gasped.

"What is it?" Satsuki asked. Mitsuha pointed to the place she'd found.

"Here. Do you see it? These characters…"

The researcher didn't see anything special about what Mitsuha was pointing at and frowned. "I don't understand. I mean, I didn't when I first read it either. It seemed like a strange phrase-"

"No, no! This makes complete sense!" Mitsuha's voice was firm, yet her finger was shaking. "Right here, see this sentence? 'A town, born from the heart of a god, protected by the threads of time.' The wording is slightly strange, but the characters are spot on. Itomori…it's written with the characters for thread, protect, and town. 'Itomori' literally means 'town protected by thread!'"

"Wait, seriously? Oh my goodness, it is, it is! How did I not spot this earlier?!" The sparkle was back in Satsuki's eyes as she eagerly scrutinised the page for any more hints she may have missed. "So this really is…and there are so many more mentions of thread and hearts. Falling hearts, burning hearts, dragon hearts, knotted threads, weaving threads…most of the documents I have reference them one way or another."

"That's because making braided cords is the tradition passed down through Miyamizu shrine, it's been kept going by my family ever since Itomori's inception! And as for the heart of a god, the comet that hit Itomori was called Tiamat, which is also the name-"

"-of the Babylon goddess of chaos, whose body was used to create the earth!" Both women were practically shaking with excitement. For the researcher, it was the excitement of a new discovery – this was the thrill she so seldom found yet had nevertheless dedicated her life to. It was for moments like these that she had entered this profession. But for the schoolgirl, there was a healthy dose of fear mixed in as well. Fear that her memories and dreams may be uncovered as liars, anxiousness towards the secrets of Itomori she may uncover today…but most of all, Mitsuha saw Taki's face, framed by a mirror. And above all else, she feared that today might be the day she finds out that whatever she thought they had, might be nothing at all. If these documents amount to nothing…then it was all most likely just a fantasy.

 _But I have no choice…no, that's wrong. I can choose to walk away now. But I won't. Because I want to know the truth. About Itomori, and Tiamat, and_ musubi _, and_ kakuriyo _, and…I want to know what these feelings truly mean…_

〈◇〉

They'd only been going for half an hour, but already Mitsuha felt exhausted. She was completely mentally and emotionally drained, and Satsuki could tell. In fact, it was so obvious that the researcher had insisted that they stop for the day and continue another time – Mitsuha could barely stand, let alone focus on and understand the old writings in front of her.

"Are you absolutely sure? I can get you a glass of water if you like?" The two of them had left the room and sat down in a quiet, more open area on the same floor, surrounded by bookshelves and completely deserted of visitors.

"I'm fine, I think. It's just…I'm beginning to remember things. About the incident."

"Oh dear, it's not PTSD is it? I imagine an event like that would be very traumatic…"

"Oh no, it's not that at all. I wouldn't call it traumatic, just frantic and a bit scary. I was knocked unconscious immediately. I'm just remembering a lot of things, and…well, it's all really confusing and a bit sudden."

Each manuscript they'd looked at had brought more back, caused old memories and dreams to resurface. The language was old and complex, and a lot of it was meaningless drabble, but there were fragments of important, forgotten history hidden away between the lines. When they'd got to one specific document detailing the appearance of comet Tiamat, Mitsuha had almost fallen to the floor, the flashbacks had been so real. It was still an unordered mess and she couldn't tell fact from fiction, but one thing was for sure – she could remember not one life, but two.

One was in Itomori, as Mitsuha. She would be her usual self, but everyone around her would act cautiously, as if she was liable to flip and become somebody else entirely. It was really strange. Life just got on as normal, but there was this feeling of longing and excitement, as if every day as Mitsuha was spent waiting for a chance to live a day as someone else.

The other was in Tokyo, as…well, as Taki. Dreams vivid enough to be reality. And from what she knew of him, the details were all correct. The school, where he lived, the train he took each morning and afternoon, the café he ate at, the restaurant he worked at…some of these things Mitsuha still didn't know from real life, only from the dreams. It was incredible. Incredibly confusing, that is.

But what had really given her a scare was the trip to Tokyo. She could remember now. All those holes in that day's memory, they were filled, and one in particular was very interesting. Mitsuha could remember meeting Taki on the train. For some reason she recognised him, but he didn't recognise her. Then she'd given him her braided cord, which made even less sense as that was the very same cord she was fiddling with right now, keeping her hair up in her signature style. How could she have possibly given it to him if it was on her head at this very moment?

"I think it would be best if you go on home for today. Besides, I've spent so much time on this I've been neglecting my other work." Mitsuha looked at the woman apologetically. "Oh, don't be like that," Satsuki laughed. "It's my own choice. After all, that's why I'm here on a Sunday! Tell you what – since I probably won't have time to look at all of this in detail, and you clearly understand a lot more of what it all means than I do, I'll scan all the documents this afternoon and email them over to you. You can have a look and point out which ones you think are interesting, and you can come in sometime next week to have a proper look at them."

"That would…actually, yeah, that would be really useful. Thanks. I didn't know you were allowed to do that."

"Let's just call it a spot of collaborative research. Now, are you sure you're absolutely fine?"

"Yes, I'm fine now, thank you. I was just a bit flustered before, was all." Mitsuha stood and bowed deeply. "Thank you so much for allowing me to see those documents. I have a feeling they're going to answer a lot of my questions about Itomori."

"It's no problem at all – in fact, it's quite exciting for me as well. Please drop in whenever you like, and expect an email from me soon." And with that, Mitsuha took the stairs back down to the main lobby, her mind still spinning. A lot of what she'd seen today was stuff she already knew, but there were some very interesting passages that seemed to trigger a lot of suppressed memories. What she needed right now was a good lie-down, and lots of time. Time to think, and read everything Satsuki was going to send her…

Then Mitsuha entered the lobby and all thoughts of a peaceful afternoon were shattered from her mind, as she saw the person she simultaneously wanted most and least to see. For there was Taki, sitting in a chair with a contemplative look on his face; he hadn't noticed her yet, but she couldn't leave him hanging. She'd completely forgotten about their agreement to meet up, and it was too late to back down now. _Buckle up Mitsuha, you don't want Taki to see you like this. Just purge what you've learned from your mind and enjoy the date._

… _oh my goodness, it's a date, isn't it?!_

* * *

 **A/N**

I'm so sorry for the late chapter – life got ahead of me and it ended up getting delayed. Not to mention that the day I planned to upload this, FFN gave me (and many other users) errors whenever trying to access a user profile, hence making it impossible to upload. Well, it's out now, although it's not as good as I'd hoped. I tried to cut out some of the repeated dialogue while still giving the same conversation from Mitsuha's point of view, but I don't think it worked that well, and it's kind of a lot of exposition. I made a choice earlier on to cut straight from week one to this point right here, but that does unfortunately cut out a lot of the slow build-up of Mitsuha's research and all that. Still, I think it's better than the alternative of two months of relatively boring nothingness. Things are really coming together now, but there's still a fair ways to go.

Remember that play I mentioned? So, this coming week is show week, as well as the deadline for the mega coursework I've been working on for over a month now. Which means that from now onwards I shall have a lot more time on my hands! I'm hoping to see _Mirai no Mirai_ on Wednesday, a recent anime film from the creator of _The Girl Who Leapt Through Time_ , so we'll see how that goes. Also, remember the book Mitsuha was reading, _I Am a Cat_? Well, over the last few weeks I've exchanged my morning commute's fanfic reading with said book, and I have to say it's absolutely hilarious. Here is one short poem from the book, with Waverhouse's version of the final line (the characters call it a 'new-style haiku'):

On this face are held Nose Festivals  
At which one offers sacred wine  
So deep no hairs appear

If you haven't guessed, it's about someone with an abnormally large nose (there are actually several pages in chapter three devoted purely to the aesthetics of noses). So, here's my challenge to you: if you leave a review, then add a haiku about noses.

Happy reading!

 _Talndir_


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Around Taki was a whirlwind of thoughts, memories and emotions, and he was sitting right in the eye of the storm. It was beyond doubt – he had lived as Mitsuha, breathed the air of Itomori in her place, while she did the same in his body here in Tokyo. They were memories, not dreams, and every one of them was a story he was only just now properly recalling.

There were still gaps, of course. The book – _Itomori: The Town That Vanished_ – had brought back many suppressed memories, but not all of them. Besides, such a massive dump of information was quite hard to process. It wasn't like filling in blanks, since he never felt as if there had been any blanks in the first place. No, the experience was more like being in two places at once – one day he was himself, the next he was Mitsuha, but looking back it felt like both lives were being lived simultaneously. It was surreal.

But strangest of all were the feelings. Unbidden, they trickled in without knocking. The beautiful town, which he had been obsessed with ever since the dreams began, had tickled his heart every time he looked out over the landscape of Itomori's town, lake, hills and forests. Yotsuha and Grandma, sudden yet welcome additions to his family, became more important to him than he could explain. Saya-chan and Tessie, who had quickly begun to feel like old friends, were already sorely missed.

And then there was Mitsuha herself. At first he had been confused – they both had – and that first week of getting used to things and setting down some ground rules had been exhausting and far too difficult. Messages were left, most of them understandably angry and reproachful. But it didn't take long before they were living each other's lives with ease, and he slowly learned about Mitsuha not from Mitsuha herself, but from the way the people around her interacted with him in her place. And eventually he began to feel a kinship…or perhaps even more.

Absorbed in his cascade of memories, Taki was oblivious to Mitsuha's footsteps as she entered the lobby, but he did become aware of the silence when she suddenly stopped in her tracks. He turned his head to see her staring straight at him. She didn't seem as lively as before…not that she had been particularly lively earlier in the afternoon, but still. In fact, Taki realised, he probably didn't look so fantastic himself. Taking a second to attempt to clear his mind and put on a (slightly) more amiable expression, he caught Mitsuha doing the same, and as she approached him he stood from his seat.

"Have you been waiting long?" Taki was trying to think of something to say but Mitsuha beat him to it. Well, the less awkward silence the better.

"Not really. I mean, I'm not actually sure, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't long…" The answer was vague and scatter-brained, but at least it made Mitsuha smile a bit – which in turn made him smile. Look, they were cheering up already. "So, did you find what you were looking for? The manuscripts or whatever it was."

That seemed to perhaps not have been the best thing to say, as Mitsuha's smile froze and she began to stumble over her words. "Ah, yeah, kind of. I mean, yes, they were what I was looking for. Actually, they were a bit more than I was expecting."

"Mm. I know what you mean." And he did – after all, his own experience this afternoon had been a bit…much. Not knowing exactly how right he was, Taki dropped the topic and ploughed on to the main subject at hand; he both knew that neither of them really wanted to talk about what they'd been reading. "So, what do you want to do?"

"Well, you were the one who asked me to meet up, so…" Mitsuha replied.

"I just sort of blurted it out…wasn't really thinking about anything in particular…" Taki thought for a moment before making a suggestion. "How about we just head towards the city centre and decide on the way? Unless you want to stick around here."

"No, that's fine. I don't really know this area much anyway."

"Me neither. Let's get to the station then."

〈◆〉

The subway was fairly busy as it was lunch hour, but not so packed that it was uncomfortable. After a few stops the two managed to secure a couple of adjacent seats and began to chat over the noise of the train. Neither were hungry so they decided to take Mitsuha's suggestion and visit Shinjuku Gyoen. Taki had just been sketching there earlier that morning – he still had his sketchbook with him – but there was no harm going back, and he couldn't deny Mitsuha her first visit. They left Shinjuku station just shy of two o'clock and headed straight to the park.

"You know, I'm pretty sure this park wasn't here a few months ago. I'd definitely have noticed it." Mitsuha was talking nonsense, so of course Taki was going to play along.

"National parks don't just get up and move you know. How did you manage to miss _this_?" Taki spread his arms out – they were beginning to approach the centre of the park and from here you couldn't even see the roads anymore. "It's pretty big."

"I guess I just wasn't paying attention. I literally walked along that street there," Mitsuha had only just noticed it was no longer visible and stopped gesturing, "the one in that direction. I walked along it the day we came house hunting. Well, not so much walked as ran…" Taki looked at her questioningly and immediately came to regret it. "Don't look so sceptical. What, you think girls can't run or something?"

"Hey, I never said that! I just didn't think anyone, girl or otherwise, would run along the length of Shinjuku Gyoen in the middle of the day and not notice what was right next to them. It's got nothing to do with what you have or haven't got between your-"

Before he could finish, Mitsuha poked him in the ribs. "Don't be so crude!" she said, her face going ever so slightly red.

"I still can't believe you've never been here. This is one of the top tourist attractions in the city, you should've come here on your first day."

"Well I'm not a tourist so that doesn't apply to me," Mitsuha retorted, crossing her arms. "I'm a permanent resident of Tokyo, so I don't have to go to all the touristy destinations!"

"But you are a tourist," Taki said, putting on his most neutral expression. "You still count as a tourist until you've lived here for a whole year." Complete nonsense of course, but he was itching to tease Mitsuha a bit. "Were you old enough to vote, you wouldn't be able to vote here until next April."

Mitsuha levelled an annoyed glare at him. "Don't be ridiculous, you won't get me with that one. Besides, where am I supposed to vote then? Supposing I could."

Taki almost said 'Itomori' but caught himself just in time. "Hida, I guess. That's where you lived before, right?"

For some reason Mitsuha seemed as if she'd only just realised this. _Of course, she was thinking of Itomori same as I was, and there aren't going to be any elections there any time soon._ _Or ever, probably._

"Wait, but I _have_ been here for more than a year. I lived in Ikebukuro for at least that long, so I'm definitely not a tourist anymore. I'm a fully-fledged citizen of the great city of Tokyo!" she proclaimed loudly, startling some birds in a nearby tree.

Taki began to put on an upper-class accent. "Well then, the prefecture is most improved by your presence. Now that you are a full citizen of this marvellous city, what will be your first order of business?"

Mitsuha stood up straighter and held her head high. "Firstly, we must leash all national parks." _Man, she catches on quickly._

"Leash them? Like dogs?"

"Yes. They cannot be allowed to run rampant around the city, popping up in any old place like this one here. Leash them to the nearest subway stations. They must also all be clearly signposted, so that no-one else like myself can claim ignorance of them."

"But they are all already signposted. Every sign within a mile of this park has directions to it."

"Well that's not good enough. Yes," Mitsuha nodded solemnly, "we need blimps." At this point both were looking straight at the other's faces, trying to keep in character. "Each park will have a giant blimp with the name of the park on it."

"And what if we cannot source any blimps? They have been in precious short supply these last few decades." _I wish Takagi and Tsukasa would play along for this long, they always crack so early…_

"Then we will use hot-air balloons." Mitsuha gestured with her hands, miming one of her imaginary balloons. "They will be this shape, and-"

"Surely they'll be bigger than that?" Taki interjected, and he was disappointed to see that Mitsuha didn't falter one bit.

"Don't be silly, of course they'll be bigger! This is only a prototype. Now," she continued, "the balloons will be multicoloured, and they will have giant arrows pointing down saying 'National Park Below!', and they will be refuelled by smaller balloons three times a day, and…"

Mitsuha paused, and small smiles began to form on both of their faces. Neither could contain themselves any longer, and they burst out laughing simultaneously. All the tension, the stress, the self-doubt…in those few seconds, Taki let it all out. And unknown to him, Mitsuha was doing the same. The two of them finally truly relaxed around one another for the first time. As Taki looked into Mitsuha's face, and she did the same to him, he found he couldn't force the smile away from his lips.

"What…what the heck was that?!" Mitsuha finally managed to splutter out as her laughter died down and her lungs resumed normal operation. "I'm still confused as to how all that even happened."

"I have no idea," Taki confessed. "I'm just kind of random sometimes. You know, daydreaming I'm in imaginary situations and stuff." He beamed proudly at Mitsuha. "I guess you're just good at improvisation."

"So are you," she replied.

"I _live_ off improvisation. I mean, it's not like I actually _plan_ anything I do."

"I can believe that."

"C'mon, how can you say that?"

"I know you. Better than you think."

And once again the mood reverted to a slightly awkward silence. Walking along the edge of a grassy open area, the pair could hear the gentle breeze rustling the trees beside them. They slowly moved across the park, with no destination in mind. Both were thinking the exact same thing, of course – the question was whether to actually discuss it or not. _Perhaps she hasn't remembered properly yet. I should hold off for now._ That was how Taki justified his silence, but soon enough, he found he was wrong.

"You know where I'm from, right?" Mitsuha abruptly asked. Out of the corner of his eye, Taki could see she was focusing straight ahead. He decided to play it safe.

"You're from Gifu, right? Hida city."

"That's not what I meant."

 _I guess we're doing this now, then. So both of us were at the library for the same reason after all. Well, no time like the present._ So Taki spoke aloud the name he hadn't dared mention for months. Heart suddenly hammering against his ribs, he answered quietly.

"Itomori. You're from Itomori."

Finally, Mitsuha turned her head to face him. She continued walking, and Taki matched her slow speed. At this pace they wouldn't be across the park for another hour…but that was alright by him. They had a lot to talk about.

〈◆〉

"How long have you known? About the…swapping, I mean." Mitsuha's expression was serious, but not unkind.

"Only a few hours. I guess I always knew you were from Itomori – always suspected it, anyway. But today was when I confirmed everything." He looked her straight in the eye, unflinching. "Do you remember that morning on the train? When we said we knew each other from our dreams, but couldn't remember them? Well, now I remember. Most of them, anyway."

"Is that why you came to the library? Was there something you were looking for?" Mitsuha was very interested, but then again she had a right to be. There was no reason not to tell her.

"There's a book I read once, a long time ago. In Hida. It's called 'Itomori: The Town That Vanished.' I thought that it might help me remember, and it did." He smiled slightly. "There was a picture of you in it."

Mitsuha's calm composure faltered. "Me? Huh? Why?"

"It was of you and Yotsuha, at some festival or other, doing the dance with the fancy dress and the bells and stuff." Mitsuha's face was getting more worried by the second, which only spurred Taki to carry on. "You were all made up to look super fancy, and your face was covered in white powder…"

"Why?! Aaaargh! Why did someone have to go and put it in a book? It's so embarrassing! I can't believe you saw that!" Mitsuha had stopped in her tracks and was getting more frantic by the second. "Was it the 2014 festival? Please don't let it be that one, I tripped over my own dress and nearly fell over, it was so bad…." She suddenly snapper her head towards him and began to bombard him with questions. "How did I look? Was I pretty? Did I look better than I usually do?"

Taki was slightly taken aback. "Erm…well, you looked…hey, that's a loaded question! How am I supposed to answer that? You're just going to get mad at me no matter what I say."

"Don't dodge the question!" Mitsuha retorted.

"When even not playing isn't a winning move…" Taki sighed, but he was still smiling inside. "Can we get back on topic, please? Um, what were we talking about? Before the photo, I mean."

"We were talking about how you remembered everything, it was because of that book you read. So, continue."

"Oh, yeah. That's it, pretty much. I read it and remembered almost everything. Alright, your turn!"

"Huh?" The two began to walk again, and as they did so Mitsuha began to play with the ribbon in her hair, suddenly calming down now that it came to her turn. "Well, it's kind of a long story…"

"How long?" Taki asked.

"About…1,200 years long? Give or take half a century," Mitsuha casually responded.

Taki balked. "Can we get the short version, please? Maybe, I don't know, ten minutes?"

Mitsuha dropped her hand from her hair, crossed her arms and huffed. "Bit impatient, aren't you? Alright, in the interest of time I'll skip the details. Basically, a couple of hundred years ago, Miyamizu shrine in Itomori was burned down, including all the documents it contained. So we have no way of knowing why we do what we do, and no way of verifying that the comet that destroyed Itomori 1200 years ago was the same one that fell two years ago." She peeked at Taki for a second. "You're not surprised by this? That the comets might be the same?"

"No, not really. I already knew."

Mitsuha almost tripped over. "You knew? How? Not even grandma knew that, and she knows everything anyone alive knows about Itomori!"

"Er…" Taki scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "I'm…not sure, really. Must've been something I picked up while I was you."

Mitsuha's eyes narrowed. "Oh yeah, _that._ We're going to have a nice long discussion about all that in a minute." Suddenly the memories of groping Mitsuha's chest came back to him, and Taki simultaneously went red from embarrassment and pale from fear. He laughed nervously, but his suffering was coming soon, he could feel it. "Anyway, it turns out the comets _are_ the same. I went to the library to look at some old manuscripts, copies of the shrine's documents made by Empress Go-Sakuramachi's scribes before the fire, and that's when I remembered."

Taki nodded, as much an affirmation as to keep Mitsuha talking less about his…perversions, and more about the topic at hand. "I guess that's…convenient? To have copies of everything available here in Tokyo. Then again, if it's anywhere it's probably at the National Diet library. I guess you have to really know what you're looking for though."

Mitsuha nodded back. "Yeah, that was part of the problem." Her anger seemed to have died down…for now. "But I found it eventually, with the help of a researcher who works at the library, and a teacher from school as well."

"You mean Yukino-sensei?"

"No, Takano-sensei. I do know Yukino-sensei as well though, she was my literature teacher in Itomori and she also runs the literature club here."

Taki's eyes went wide. "Oh yeah, I remember now." No wonder he'd felt she was familiar. He'd never had her as a teacher though, so he never got a chance to talk to her. Info that she was from Itomori just got to him through the grapevine – that kind of gossip always spreads fast. "I was in one of her lessons once, as you. She taught us a local term… _kataware-doki_ , that was it. She was a nice teacher."

"Speaking of being me…" Mitsuha turned a pair of angry eyes towards him. "Mind explaining why my sister caught me _fondling myself_ on several occasions? Because I sure as hell wasn't doing that first thing in the morning!"

"So you were doing it at other times?" Taki's comment earned him a punch on the arm. "Ok, ok…I mean, I _did_ just wake up in a girl's body, I needed to, erm, assess the situation, get used to the new territory…you know…" Mitsuha didn't seem convinced. "Oh, and I suppose _you_ didn't do anything like that, huh?" She shook her head. "You…didn't? Not even once? Not even go to the toilet?"

"Not even once. Unlike some people, I value other people's privacy and personal space!"

"Well, technically I _was_ you, so it was actually my own personal space at the time-" Taki backed away before receiving his second punch in as many minutes, and bowed deeply. "I'm sorry, I really am! I won't do it again, I promise!"

"Well of course you won't, you dolt! You won't get the chance to!" Taki had his head down, so he couldn't see Mitsuha's face at all. He peeked up and saw her expression had calmed slightly. "Alright, whatever. Perv. Now get up, people are staring." By the time he'd raised his head and straightened his clothes, Mitsuha had already strode off ahead, and Taki had to hurry to catch up.

"You know," he said as he fell in step with her, "we're both taking this quite well. Not that I'm complaining, but…I guess what I'm trying to say is that it isn't much of a shock, for some reason."

Mitsuha nodded beside him. "I know what you mean. It's like remembering some details you just happened to have forgotten. Now that I know, it would feel weirder not knowing." She paused. "There is one day that I don't remember though. The day of the incident, when Itomori was destroyed, I can't remember that at all. Can you? Or maybe we didn't swap that day…"

Taki shook his head. "No, we definitely did swap that day. I remember arguing with your father, he noticed that I was different. And grandma definitely knew, somehow." Mitsuha didn't seem too surprised by the idea that her grandma knew more than she let on, so he continued. "I also remember talking to Saya-chan and Tessie as well, but I don't know what we talked about…hey, what's so funny?" Beside him, Mitsuha was trying to hide a grin and failing badly.

"It's just how you talk about them – you said 'grandma', not 'your grandma'. And you called them Saya-chan and Tessie, same as I do." Her smile fell slightly. "Same as I _did_. I haven't talked to them for ages. They're still living in Hida. I think they're planning to enrol in a university here in Tokyo once they graduate high school, but that all depends on exams and stuff."

Taki looked across to Mitsuha, and the surfacing of a new memory made him smile. "You really need to teach me how to do that sometime."

"Do what?"

"Your hair. Everyone would know it was me because I'd just put your hair in a ponytail, since I couldn't do it up properly. Even when I tried to act like the Mitsuha I imagined you to be, everyone was still on guard since they could tell just from the hairstyle whether it was me or you."

"That reminds me of something." Mitsuha lightly touched the red cord that was holding her hair in place. It was by that cord that he'd first recognised her. "I gave you this, didn't I?"

"Huh? Um…then how do you have it now?" Taki asked confusedly.

"I guess you must have given it back somehow. But I definitely gave it to you." Taki frowned – they'd never met in person, so that was completely impossible. "I remember meeting you once, somewhere. I have no idea where, though. I mean, I went to Tokyo the day before the comet fell, but I can't remember anything about what happened. It's just a bunch of jumbled moments. Did you ever visit Itomori? Maybe I gave it to you then."

"I only visited once, but that was after it was destroyed, so I couldn't have met you there," Taki recalled. "In fact, I can't remember much of what happened that day. Apparently I told Tsukasa and Okudera-senpai to go home and leave me there. I woke up on the side of a mountain, or large hill…actually, I have a drawing." Taki stopped and took off his rucksack. "I've been sketching my dreams again. Here," he said as he withdrew his sketchbook. He put his bag down on the grass and opened to the first page. "Do you recognise this?"

Mitsuha gasped. "That's where the shrine god is buried. You went there?"

"Apparently," Taki answered. "I'm not sure if I actually went down to the tomb – no, I did go once, as you. To put your _kuchikamizake_ there."

"Ah, so that was you? I always wondered…hey, that stuff's sacred! You can't just handle it however you please, even if you _are_ in my body!"

"Calm down! I didn't exactly have a choice, did I? Besides, I can only remember up to when we crossed the stream. I can't recall the rest. So whatever kind of secret stuff is in there is still secret."

"Hmm…well, I suppose it couldn't be helped. At least you didn't have to dance in the festival, that would've been a disaster." Mitsuha thought for a moment, still pondering over the drawing. Her hair swayed slightly in the breeze, but Taki held down the corner of the page so the wind didn't turn it over. "Do you have any more of these drawings? Of Itomori, I mean."

"Yeah, I have loads. About thirty, maybe. Do you want to see them?"

"I think…yeah, I think I do. I have an idea, if you'll hear me out."

〈◆〉

"I'm home!" Taki called as he unlocked the door and stepped into his flat.

"Welcome back. Good sketching session?" Taki's dad came round the corner into the hallway and abruptly stopped at the unfamiliar face. "Oh, you've brought a guest?"

"I'm Miyamizu Mitsuha, I'm in Taki's class at school. Pleased to meet you," Mitsuha said with a smile and a bow, which Taki's dad returned in kind.

"Ah, so you're Mitsuha-san! I've heard _so much_ about you from Taki." He winked at Taki, who scowled and gave his dad a dirty look.

"C'mon Dad, don't be like that. We're just doing some school stuff. A project for the literature club, apparently. Once she tells me the details." Taki shot a glance at Mitsuha; she still hadn't told him what she wanted from him, only that she wanted to see the drawings first. _So here we are, without even a reason why I've invited a girl back to my house. Dad is going to really milk this one later._

"Literature club? Pretty sure you were part of the pack-bags-go-home club last time I checked. Well, have a good time doing…writing, I guess. Want some tea or something?"

"No thanks," the two said in unison. "We'll be in my room," Taki said as they took off their shoes and walked to said room. As soon as the door was closed, Mitsuha leaned against it and slid down to the floor, a look of relief evident on her face. "You alright?"

"I nearly called him Dad…that would've been so awkward…" Taki watched the girl look around the room, a smile in her eyes. "I swear this room hasn't changed a bit since I was last here. It feels more like home than my current one does." Acting like she owned the place (which she kind of used to), Mitsuha sat down on Taki's bed as he took a stack of drawings out of a drawer. "You have no idea how many times I fell out of this bed."

"Heh. Getting used to sleeping on tatami was kind of weird as well. Not bad, just…different." Taki chipped in his own two cents as he closed the drawer. "Your house was way cooler than mine, though. An actual house, not a flat in a run-down apartment building."

"If it's not in a hundred thousand pieces like mine is, I'll take it." Taki sat down next to her and passed her the paper. "Are these all of them?"

"Yep. The bottom dozen or so were done right after the dreams ended last year. The rest have all been drawn since April."

"Hmmm…" Mitsuha clearly wasn't paying attention. "Wow, they're so detailed! Like this one, I'd forgotten how the roof tiles looked on that house. It's bringing back so much…"

For the next ten minutes, Mitsuha sat beside Taki and went through every drawing, one by one, pointing out details she'd forgotten or that Taki had slightly misremembered. _There's supposed to be a post-box on this road_ , or _you even remembered the calligraphy style on that shop sign_. As Mitsuha focused ever more intently on the drawings in her hands, Taki's mind drifted away from the paper in her hands to the girl herself. She'd swept back a few loose strands of hair behind one ear, and the ribbon that tied it all together was slightly longer on one side than the other. She sat slightly hunched, completely focused, never moving her eyes from the pages.

As Taki watched, Mitsuha's hands stopped moving – she'd paused on one of the first drawings he'd done of Itomori. It was the one that had helped him find it in the first place, a full landscape of the entire town beside the lake. Then there was a light tap, like a droplet of rain falling onto an umbrella, and a dark spot appeared on the page. Taki looked up, and saw a second tear make the slow journey from the corner of Mitsuha's eye, down her bright cheek, and arrive at her chin, only to fall once again onto the paper.

"Mitsuha…" Taki softly spoke. He reached out a hand to brush the tears away, but Mitsuha's own beat him to it. She sniffed and wiped away the tears with the back of her hand, before handing back the drawings to their original artist.

"I'm sorry, I cried on your drawing. I hope I didn't smudge it…" She blinked a few times, took a deep breath to compose herself, and turned towards Taki. Her eyes were still wet, but her gaze was strong. "The literature club. Every year, they – no, _we_ – make a book for the cultural festival. The book is always based around a theme, and this year that theme is _origin_. One of the manuscripts I saw at the library today was telling the story of the founding of Itomori. I didn't have time to read all of it, but I got the general idea.  
"One thousand two hundred years ago, in the place where Lake Itomori is now, there was a small village – only a few hundred people. In this village lived a couple, a weaver and her husband. As the weaver's skill grew, she began to have visions, to see things in her threads, at the same time as the comet appeared overhead. Then one day, she saw the comet would fall. But only her husband and a few friends believed her. As the comet split and began to fall, more and more people came with her. Eventually the entire town was evacuated…except for one child, an orphan girl, who had fallen asleep and nobody had come to wake her. The weaver's husband went back to save her. They tried to run, but the impact still knocked them off their feet. The man died protecting the child in his arms as a piece of debris hit him.  
"The town was rebuilt along the shore of the new lake, made by the impact and subsequent heavy rainfall. The lake helped the town to grow even bigger. The new town was named _Itomori_ , meaning _Town Protected by Thread_ , after the weaver whose visions had saved them. That day was commemorated with a festival, to remember the events that had occurred. The orphan girl was adopted by the widowed weaver, and gave herself the family name _Miyamizu_ , meaning _Water Shrine_ , devoting her life to the deity who had given the town its lake. And the small meteorite that had fallen atop the mountain beside the village was entombed and worshipped as the resting place of the god. The traditions of the weaver and the girl were kept alive for over a thousand years, passed down through the Miyamizu family, in the hope that next time the comet came, nobody would die."

She took a deep breath, her voice strong and steady, with determination in her eyes. "Now I'm not going to pretend like I know what all that means. I don't know whether it's true, or how it's related to Itomori's destruction two years ago. I don't know what I have to do with all of this, if all this body-swapping business is related at all. But what I _do_ know is that it's a damn good story, and if I'm going to write anything for the club's book then it's going to be this. And a good book needs good illustrations. Not just of back then, or of now. I also want to show people how Itomori was, before it was destroyed. I don't care if everyone finds out where I'm from, this is _my_ legacy and I'm going to tell it to the world. So, are you in?"

Taki was still trying to process exactly what he'd heard, so it took him a minute to understand the question. _Itomori, Miyamizu, Tiamat…could it all be true?_ But then he finally understood what Mitsuha had said. _She's right, it_ is _a good story. And a good book_ does _need good illustrations. I'm one of the only people left with memories of Itomori and the skill to put those memories down on paper. This is her chance…her chance to show Itomori to the world, in a new light. And if I can help her with that, help her show people not only the destroyed Itomori, not only the broken Itomori, but the Itomori that was…_

Taki looked up and met her eyes. _Such strong eyes._ He smiled, and nodded.

"Yeah. I'm in."

* * *

 **A/N**

Well there goes the upload schedule! This chapter is two weeks late, and for that I am very sorry, but if I'd published it when it was due then you would all be looking at an empty page right now. This chapter was _so ridiculously difficult_ to write, I got complete writer's block and ended up changing the entire structure of the chapter away from what it was originally intended to be. There's now absolutely no chance this story will be completed before the end of the year, but over Christmas I will have more time (I already said that about these last few weeks as well but whatever) so stuff should get published on time…maybe?

We are rapidly approaching the emotional climax of the story, but you will have to wait and see exactly how it all pans out! I feel like I channelled a little too much of myself into Taki this chapter, but you don't get enough of Taki or Mitsuha in their natural habitats in the film so I kind of have to make it up as I go along.

I now have a Reader Pass to the British Library, yay! That means I can do proper research with proper books and manuscripts like the ones Mitsuha was looking at last chapter. Also, if anyone wants to write Itomori's origin story as a full fic then go ahead! I may or may not do it myself, and even if I do it won't be any time soon, so if anyone wants a go then please feel free.

Over the past few weeks I've watched a lot of plays (including acting in one), films, read a few books, and listened the heck out of the _Kimi no Na wa._ OST. Also, Pokémon Let's Go is pretty decent, Katamari Damacy is hilarious, and Celeste is getting a physical release (and won two awards at The Game Awards)! End of term is not far away, there's only one more coursework deadline, and then I can focus completely on writing (and procrastinating), yay!

One final shameless plug: there's a cool new site called Ficdb which is aiming to be a fanfiction-based review site. I've already put this fic up on there but of course I can't review it myself, so if you feel like it then go and give this story a review on , and a comment right here while you're at it. Also add any other fics you're reading to the database, help it grow! Thanks for all the reviews so far, see you next chapter!

 _Talndir_


	11. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

It was a hot day in late August, but instead of enjoying the fantastic weather, Mitsuha and her friends were stuck inside, working on her story. The cultural festival was taking place at the end of October, but that entire month would be spent preparing in individual classes, so the literature club was trying to get its own preparations out of the way as early as possible. That meant Mitsuha's submission for the book had to be completed by mid-September at the latest.

Luckily for her, the friends she'd recruited to help her had been incredible help. Rather unluckily, they were still likely to end up working right up to the deadline, despite all the work they'd already done so far.

"I think it's pronounced _Haruta_ , not _Hinata_." Kana was sitting beside her, a book and laptop open on the table in front of her. "Wait, when was that reading introduced…" Being a linguistic wizard, especially with old and archaic characters, Mitsuha had asked for her help in deciphering the texts she'd found at the library. They were written in a very old style and a lot of the words took ages to look up, even when she knew where to look. Some parts were even direct transcriptions of originals up to a thousand years old, which were practically illegible if you didn't have specific knowledge of old Japanese. Kana had sped up the process tenfold, as well as volunteered her house for out-of-school meetings.

Next to Kana was Hiraoka, who was currently reading and annotating the fifth (or was it sixth?) draft of the story. Mitsuha's spelling and grammar was fair, but she had ended up using a lot of old words and was writing in an unfamiliar style, so Hiraoka was sort of working as her editor. Not to mention that every time they read another new manuscript, new (or sometimes contradictory) information was found out and had to be added to the story. The first draft had also been far too long, and Hiraoka had really helped to trim it down.

Opposite the three girls, and taking up most of the table space, was Taki. In front of him lay an assortment of pencils, chalks, photographs, drawings, and a magnifying glass. He was currently working on the sky of one particular drawing – it was upside-down but Mitsuha recognised it as the scene of the comet impacting the original Itomori over a millennium ago. There were obviously no photographs or drawings of the event, and in fact the written accounts of what it looked like were very vague. Instead, Taki had worked closely with Mitsuha to get a first-hand account of what the 2015 impact had looked like, and used that as the basis for his drawing.

Mitsuha shivered. Even upside-down, the colours and shape of the comet were as beautiful – and as terrifying – as they had been two years ago. The way he had perfectly captured the event without ever seeing it himself was a testament to his skill as an artist.

Hiraoka looked up at Mitsuha and followed her eyes to Taki's drawing. "Hey, artist boy. Why are your drawings so big? You do know the book's going to be A5, right?" The drawing he was currently working on was occupying most of an A2 canvas, eight times larger than the intended size.

Taki responded without lifting his head or stilling his hand. "Always draw as large and as detailed as possible. Make it too small and you'll be in trouble if you ever have to enlarge it later."

Mitsuha smiled. As tough as they acted around one another, Taki and Hiraoka were definitely getting along a lot better now. She still wasn't sure why they didn't like each other so much in the first place, but that was none of her business anyway. On impulse, Mitsuha stood up and went around to Taki's side of the table. For a few moments she just stood there, looking over his shoulder as he worked, making sure not to block the light as she did so.

"Do you like it?" Taki asked, head still down.

"I'm not sure _like_ is the right word for it. It's a little bit too accurate to make me feel comfortable looking at it." Mitsuha had watched this piece develop over the last two weeks, and now that colour had been added it was truly breath-taking.

It was drawn from the perspective of someone looking up at the comet as it splintered and fell. It was night, and the stars were bright around the edges of the sky but faded in the middle as most of the drawing was dominated by the comet itself. In the viewer's peripheral vision you could see some hills, trees and houses, lit up by the bright light of the meteorite hurtling down upon them. From this angle, it was strikingly similar to the sight Mitsuha herself saw on the day of Itomori's destruction.

Taki lifted his head and began to pack up his pencils. "I've got work soon so I need to get going," he announced. "I should have this finished by the time school starts again." Mitsuha moved back to give him space to stand up and watched as he efficiently stored everything in his bag. The exception was the massive drawing, which he put inside a special folder with a handle, designed specifically to carry artwork safely.

"Has it brought back anything else?" Taki asked in a low voice. "New memories?" Mitsuha glanced up to see Kana and Hiraoka subtly watching them and decided that this was better discussed outside. Before Taki had a chance to pick up the folder, she grabbed it and held the door for him before letting it swing mostly shut, somewhat suspiciously accompanying him round the corner of the hallway and to the front door, out of earshot of the others.

"No, nothing new," Mitsuha finally replied. "The only memory I have from that day is what you've been drawing today."

"Well, I'm sure it'll come back eventually. The rest did."

"You've remembered something?" Neither of them had had much luck since most of their memories had come back – the day of the incident in particular was always hazy.

"No, nothing. It's just, I feel like I'm missing something, you know? Like something just doesn't make sense about the swapping and everything. There's an inconsistency somewhere."

Mitsuha stopped at the front door. "What do you mean? It all makes sense to me. I mean, apart from the fact that the whole thing is absurd in the first place…"

Taki looked at her and smiled. "You're right, I'm looking for logic where there isn't any to be found. Well…see you at school, then." Mitsuha handed him his artwork and a few seconds later he was out of the door. She sighed. _I wish I would just hurry up and remember already._ She walked back down the hallway but stopped just outside the door when she heard Kana's voice.

"Honestly, they should just get together already." Kana was speaking unusually loudly, and the words easily carried through the slightly ajar door. _What is she talking about?_

"It's so obvious they like each other. Not that I approve, but what can you do?" Hiraoka seemed to be reluctantly agreeing. Mitsuha stepped slightly closer, and the thick carpet of Kana's fancy western-style house easily muffled her footsteps.

"One of them should just pluck up their courage and ask. Like, it's obvious the other's going to say yes." Kana again. _What are they…no, surely they're not talking about…!_

"You know he recognised her the first time they met? Apparently they'd seen each other somewhere in passing. Seemed a pretty weak excuse if you ask me." _Wait, how does Hiraoka know about that?!_

"Plus he was like, the first person she asked to work on this with her. I wouldn't be surprised if they dreamed of each other." There was the sound of muffled laughter, but Mitsuha was not amused. _You're more correct than you know, Kana!_

"They can confess their love at the cultural festival and get married!"

"And call their daughters _Itsuha_ and _Mutsuha_ to continue the family pattern!" By now the two girls were howling with laughter and irritating Mitsuha quite a lot. "Wait, 'six leaves' would be pronounced _Roppa_ not _Mutsuha_." Kana was nerding out again…

"You know it's rude to eavesdrop, Mitsuha!" Hiraoka shouted, and Mitsuha realised they'd been playing with her the whole time. She slowly opened the door, her face clearly showing she wasn't amused, which made the other girls only laugh harder. Mitsuha let out a small sigh of frustration before taking Taki's recently vacated seat, opposite her two friends, and crossed her arms.

"You know, the more you talk about it the more you're putting me off," Mitsuha said in an attempt to get them to quiet down.

"Oh, so you admit there's a chance?" Hiraoka retorted, sharp on the tongue as usual. "Personally I don't really like the guy, but you look pretty happy when you're around him."

"You've never actually told me why you dislike him so much. Well, at least you've been getting on well lately." Mitsuha tried to steer the conversation away to no avail.

"Now, now, this isn't about me, it's about you." Hiraoka guided them back to the one place Mitsuha didn't want to go. "We've seen the way you look at each other. Right, Kana?"

"…Futaba, Mitsuha, Yotsuha, Itsuha…huh?" Kana had already drifted off into the land of linguistics. "Oh, yeah, you two are _so_ into each other. You try to hide it, but we can tell. You're always looking at each other, and you look so, like, comfortable together, even though you barely know each other."

Mitsuha thought about it a bit and realised that their observations were correct. From an outside perspective, she had just turned up a few months prior and immediately hit it off with Taki. But the conclusion, that she thought of him like _that_ , was, well… _it's not that I mind, just that I'm pretty sure I don't actually feel like that. But then again, I'm not sure I've ever felt like this before, except in the dreams._

The truth of it was rather more unbelievable, of course. They knew each other through their body swapping, which meant they shared an unexplainable bond that made them far closer than anyone would think possible; they had literally lived as each other. That kind of, well, intimacy, was something unforgettable. Even when they couldn't recall exactly what connected them, the feelings had always remained. So it was only natural that they would feel comfortable around one another, without the need for any words.

It was just too bad that that kind of behaviour came across as something more romantic in the eyes of her friends. She'd never really considered how their relationship looked to others. With both of them following their hearts more than their heads, people were beginning to notice. Which made her remember something.

"Hey." Mitsuha uncrossed her arms, and her face grew slightly sombre. "How do you think people will react?"

The two girls had noticed Mitsuha's change in tone, but Hiraoka managed to sneak in one last joke. "When you ask Taki out?"

"No, when everyone finds out where I'm from." Mitsuha had been very sparse about details of her hometown, so much so that the only one to really figure it out was Kana, and even then that was because she already knew Yukino-sensei was from Itomori. Taki knew for obvious reasons, and when she told Hiraoka before inviting her to join her project she seemed to suspect it but wasn't completely sure. Currently they were the only ones who knew, but after the cultural festival it would be public knowledge.

But it was worse than that – they would know she was a _miko_ , and easily figure out that she was the mayor's daughter. Not to mention the story itself, which added a large supernatural element to her family name. The fallout was going to be massive, and people would definitely make a big deal out of it. On the spur of the moment, Mitsuha had made the decision to go public with it in the most incriminating way possible, and she was almost regretting it. Almost. Only time would tell how many headaches it would cause her.

The girls went quiet. They had thought about this on and off over the last couple of months, and both had individually decided not to voice their opinions on the matter; it was Mitsuha's choice after all, and she seemed to be fine with it. But now it seemed as if perhaps she wasn't as sure of herself as she appeared. Kana decided to voice her support. "I'm sure people will get excited. It was a national, if not international news story two years ago. But I'm sure it'll die down quickly enough," she said. "It's normal to be like, nervous and stuff."

"People will get over it faster than you think," Hiraoka added. "Your friends will stay your friends, and everyone else will just forget about it and move on. I'm sure a few people will take it overboard – you in particular, with your relevance to the story you're writing, will attract a lot of attention." She leaned forward over the table. "But just look at Yukino-sensei. She never hid it, but she didn't exactly tell everyone either. Once people found out she got pestered for a few weeks, but that was it. Now everyone's over it and she's just another teacher. I'm sure nothing weird will happen."

Mitsuha considered their words. "You're right," she finally responded. "This school isn't like Ikebukuro, I actually have friends here – people who won't change how they see me just because I was in the wrong place at the right time." She hastily wiped her eyes before any tears could fully form. "Thanks, guys. I'm glad I can trust you."

〈◇〉

"It's certainly well-written, and fits with the theme of _origin_ in a way I hadn't considered." Erina, president of the literature club, was sitting next to Mitsuha in the regular club meeting room and giving her feedback for her story. "But there are a couple of things I'm slightly…wary of."

It was mid-September, school had already been back in for two weeks and the club was busy editing the vast collection of stories, poems and artwork that would go into their annual book. Mitsuha had submitted the final version of her story, as well as some scans of Taki's art pieces, to Erina and Yukino-sensei to look over. Today they were giving feedback and making sure everything was turned in. Before the summer holidays, Mitsuha had cleared her story idea with Yukino but asked her not to tell anyone about it, which meant Erina hadn't even known what Mitsuha was planning to write until today. _Of course it's going to have problems, I've never written a story before…_ Completely missing Erina's initial compliment, Mitsuha prepared herself for an onslaught of literary criticism.

"I don't think there needs to be any more editing done," Erina began, and Mitsuha blinked in surprise. "In fact, I quite like the story. But I feel that it's perhaps slightly insensitive to survivors of the Itomori incident from two years ago. I'll have to let sensei give it a read and ask her what she thinks, since she's from Itomori herself." _But I'm from Itomori!_ Mitsuha wanted to say, but the girl continued before she had a chance to speak up.

"The second issue is the use of your name. I understand an author wanting to leave a bit of themselves in their work, but putting your own name into the story like this seems slightly, well, arrogant."

Mitsuha was confused. "What do you mean?"

"Well, naming the shrine and lead heroine after yourself. I'd really like that changed if you don't mind."

 _Ah, I get it._ Nowhere in the story had she actually mentioned that it was based on a real account passed down through the Miyamizu family (until the Mayugoro fire, anyway). "I think you're misunderstanding, senpai. This is based on the actual story of Itomori's inception, recovered from manuscripts a researcher I know found in the National Diet Library. My name is the same as the shrine's because, well, I'm from Itomori." Mitsuha had to hold back a smile at the older girl's astonished expression. "If this woman actually did exist, which I'm not entirely sure of, she would be one of my ancestors. The women of the Miyamizu family have been shrine maidens for literally over a thousand years. I hope that also clears up the first issue of potentially causing offence to Itomori's prior residents."

Erina had to take a second to compose herself. She shut her eyes, returned her face to a neutral expression, and slowly reopened them. "I see. That is a very…unexpected, but nevertheless reasonable explanation. I, um, yes." She glanced over to where Yukino-sensei was just getting up from reading another boy's work. "Please excuse me for just one minute," she said, before scampering out of her seat and approaching the teacher. A brief discussion ensued, from which Mitsuha was too far to hear, but she could see the smile slowly widening on Yukino-sensei's face. Yukino caught Mitsuha watching and gave her a wink, before finishing her discussion with Erina, who promptly returned.

"It appears that sensei was already aware of the story," Erina mumbled as she stood beside Mitsuha's desk. "We decided it would be best if you wrote a small, one-page introduction explaining what you just told me, as well as crediting your artist, Kana-san and anyone else who helped either there or at the end. Otherwise, the story itself is fine and we have no objections to adding it to the collection." Erina still looked a little peeved at being kept in the dark, but her interest in the story seemed to have eclipsed any annoyance she felt. She turned away and checked Mitsuha's name off her list, before looking over her shoulder one final time. "Oh, and I love the artwork," she said with a smile, before rushing off to locate her next target.

Mitsuha smiled a genuine smile. _Taki will be happy, I'll call him tonight._ Just then, Kana returned from her toilet break to see Mitsuha staring off into space with a grin on her face. "Did I miss it? Did she like it?"

Mitsuha focused her smile on her friend. "I need to write a small introduction explaining the origin of the story, and credit you, Hiraoka and Taki of course. Apart from that, no changes or edits made to the story itself. She liked it."

The two girls high-fived with a quiet cheer and began to write the introduction.

〈◇〉

The Miyamizu family had just finished dinner and were ready to start tidying up when Mitsuha spoke up. "By the way, you know how I've been spending so much time on that project for the literature club?"

"Hmm? Yes, you mentioned collaborating with some friends to write a story. For the cultural festival, correct?" her dad answered. She'd told them the bare minimum – that the literature club wrote and sold a book for the festival, and she was working with some classmates to write and illustrate a story. Beyond that, she'd been deliberately vague about the contents, partly because she was worried they might not like her writing about Itomori, partly because she wanted to get through all the manuscripts first, but mostly to avoid all the questions.

But since she'd already handed in the final draft, it would be the perfect time to tell them – there was no way she could hide it forever, and she didn't want to either. Mitsuha especially wanted to share what she'd found out with her grandma. "Yeah, we're writing a book of stories and poems with the theme of _origin_. So I thought it would be appropriate for me to write about Itomori." That last sentence was immediately followed by 'ooh's from Yotsuha and Hitoha, and an interested 'hmm' from Toshiki. Mitsuha continued on, specifically addressing her grandma this time. "You know how you told us about Mayugoro and how all the shrine's documents were destroyed?"

"Ah yes. Sandal-maker Mayugoro's bathroom caught fire and burned down the entire shrine, you asked me about it again not too long ago. Why, is that what you wrote about? It's not exactly a thrilling story though…"

"No, that's not what the story is about. I mentioned it because all the documents were lost in the fire. Do you remember that Dad also mentioned Empress Go-Sakuramachi?"

"Yes, I remember," the dad in question responded. "You wrote about her visit?"

"No, not about that either."

"Um, excuse me," Yotsuha interjected, raising her hand sheepishly as if she were asking an embarrassing question at school. "What's an empress got to do with Itomori?"

"Well, Dad said that a couple hundred years ago, Empress Go-Sakuramachi visited Itomori and asked for access to the shrine's documents. I also asked you about that comet, do you remember? Lexell's comet?"

"Oh yeah," Yotsuha said, clapping her hands together as she recalled the random question her sister had asked her a few months prior – she'd almost completely forgotten about it. "It's the closest a visible comet has ever got to Earth," she hastily explained to the two adults who were quite lost at the current change of topic. "It passed Earth in 1771 or 1772, I can't remember exactly. It was super bright, visible for ages. But what's that got to do with the empress?"

"Mitsuha-chan, are you suggesting that Empress Go-Sakuramachi visited Itomori because of the link between comet Tiamat and the one that Yotsuha just mentioned?" Grandma asked.

"Yes. And there's more – she made copies and notes on the documents found in the shrine. A lot of them were destroyed, but some of them made it to the National Diet Library. A researcher there helped me find them and among them is the story of Itomori's founding. Everyone from Itomori already knows that the lake was made from a meteorite impact, but there are a lot more details in the manuscripts I found, including the founding of Miyamizu shrine and the origin of Itomori's name."

Toshiki was leaning over the table with wide eyes focused only on his daughter – this was very interesting news. "And you compiled them into a story?" Mitsuha nodded. Beside her, Yotsuha was looking surprised, and Grandma was smiling. "Well, well. Who would've thought all those ancient fairy tales managed to live on," he continued, earning a stern look from Hitoha. "May we read the story?"

Mitsuha grinned and crossed her arms. "Not until it's published at the cultural festival. Then it'll be in a proper book, with illustrations as well." That reminded her, she had to call Taki and tell him the story was in. "We – me and my friend Kana – haven't finished typing up all the documents yet, but once we do I'll show you all of those too."

"Can I see them too? Please?" Yotsuha asked earnestly; she had always been way more interested in Itomori's history and culture than Mitsuha had.

"Yeah, of course. Once it's ready."

Immediately all three of them began bombarding Mitsuha with questions about the contents of what she'd found, before her dad and grandma started excitedly discussing some of the old important documents they hoped would be there. Those two had never exactly seen eye to eye since Toshiki left the shrine, but they'd been trying to mend things ever since moving in together after Itomori was destroyed. Perhaps this common point of interest would mend the bridge. Mitsuha smiled. _He cares more about the shrine than he lets on. I haven't seen him this excited since before Mum died._ Turning to face her sister, Mitsuha found her gaze transfixed on their father's smiling face. _So she's noticed too – noticed how much he's changed._

Mitsuha rose and excused herself, heading to her room. Inside, she closed the door, picked up her phone from her desk and sat down on the bed, cross-legged. Feeling the weight of the phone in her hand for a second, and reflecting on the excitement she'd brought to the rest of her family, she unlocked her phone and navigated to her contacts, scrolling down until she found Taki and tapping the entry to bring up his details. They'd exchanged numbers when he started working on her story, but neither had had cause to ring the other – usually a simple text would suffice, or a message to the LINE group chat they shared with Hiraoka and Kana.

But now that she was going to call him, Mitsuha was getting a bit nervous. She wasn't sure why – they saw each other and talked together at school pretty much every day, they had a pretty intimate connection in the form of the whole body-swapping thing, and they had even met up many times over the summer. They'd also been alone together on several occasions, so it wasn't shyness or awkwardness. _I'm a girl, and I'm calling a boy; that's what's making me nervous._ Mitsuha recalled the light-hearted teasing the other two girls had subjected her to at Kana's house a few weeks earlier. Perhaps there was some truth to what they'd been saying – and even if there wasn't, their words alone were making her feel nervous over nothing. _It's just a phone call, just a phone call…_

Mitsuha took a deep breath and got ready to touch the call icon, before realising that she'd been idling so long the screen had turned off. Unlocking her phone, she tapped the icon and put the phone to her ear. H _e might not even pick up…_

Suddenly the regular _beep-beep_ was replaced by a click, and Mitsuha heard a familiar voice answer the other end. "Hey Mitsuha, what's up?" Mitsuha froze. _How did he know it was me?! …Oh wait, caller ID. Duh._

"Er, hi Taki!" she responded, uncharacteristically loud and high-pitched. She coughed once to reset her vocal chords and tried again, this time in her normal voice. She almost said 'what's up' back to him but managed to catch herself just in time. "How are you doing? I don't think I talked to you today." Which was true.

"Just finishing up the last piece for the story, then I'll scan them all in super-high resolution tomorrow or the day after. What about you?" _He sounds so calm…I wonder if he's also panicking on the inside._ Mitsuha realised she was gripping her phone too tightly and lay down with her legs still crossed, forcing her upper body to relax.

"I just got feedback from Erina – that's the literature club president – about the story. She really liked it, in fact she didn't edit it or want any changes made at all."

"Wow, that's great!" Taki sounded genuinely excited.

"She got a bit confused at first…" Mitsuha retold the small misunderstanding from earlier that afternoon, getting a few laughs out of both of them. "So I just need to finish up that introduction. She also said she really liked your illustrations."

"I'm glad." She could practically _hear_ him smiling on the other end. "You showed her the ones of the old town and the comet, right? I really liked how the comet one turned out…" Mitsuha uncrossed her legs and turned on her side, closing her eyes with the phone under her head and the sound of Taki's voice loud and clear in her ear. _I could listen to his voice all day…it's like I'm hugging him to me…_ Mitsuha shot bolt upright, a look of horror on her face. _What am I thinking?! Those two are getting to me…_ "…Mitsuha? Everything alright? I thought I heard something."

"What? Oh, yeah, no, yeah, er, everything's fine. I just got up a little too quickly. Your v-" Mitsuha barely caught herself and forced herself to slow down. "-illustrations, I'm looking forward to seeing them in the book. And the modern Itomori one especially, I don't think I've seen it yet."

"Yeah, I think you'll like it. I'll send you the scan as soon as it's done."

There was silence, as girl and boy simply listened to the sound of each other's gentle breathing. Mitsuha's heart rate had returned to normal, and she was just enjoying the peace.

"…Mitsuha."

"Mm?"

"Thanks for asking me to do the illustrations. I really had a lot of fun."

"Me too. It means a lot to me, to capture it all forever like this. Thank you."

"Good night, Mitsuha. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah. Good night, Taki."

They both hung onto the line a few seconds longer, before Mitsuha pulled the phone away from her ear and ended the call. She lightly dropped backwards onto her bed and placed her phone on the bedside table, exhaling deeply and closing her eyes.

 _Damn those two, putting ideas in my head. I'm falling for him all over again…_

… _again?_

* * *

 **A/N**

Happy Christmas everybody! A bit late, but I got it done eventually. After the cultural festival we will rapidly approach the climax of the story. As you can see, Mitsuha and Taki (especially Mitsuha) are starting to realise exactly how much they care for each other – everyone else can already see it, now they just need to recognise it themselves.

I hope everybody is having a good holiday and break. Myself, I'm home from uni for the holidays which makes life significantly easier (and tastier). I'll also be cross-posting this to AO3 soon, under the same username. Don't forget to leave a review if you liked (or didn't like) the chapter!

 _Talndir_


	12. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

It was the day of the cultural festival. The event itself was impossible to miss – arriving an hour earlier than usual, and on a Saturday to boot, Taki was greeted by banners, signs and posters outside the gates. On the inside, many students and teachers were setting up stalls and booths. The entire school was being transformed for just this day. But the effort was much greater than it seemed; with over a month of preparations, everyone had been kept busy, especially the student council. Tsukasa had been doing more than his fair share of work to prepare for this, so Taki hoped it would all pay off, for his friend's sake at least.

Taki weaved between the stalls, all in varying stages of assembly, and entered the main building. He switched to his indoor shoes and took the usual route to his classroom, where he was expected any minute now. He should count himself lucky – many students had done much more work and had had to arrive much earlier than him. Still, he couldn't stifle a sigh as he entered the classroom.

For the cultural festival, each class held some sort of event that everyone was required to participate in. Supervised by their homeroom teacher, the students would decide on, plan, organise and run any event of their choice. In addition, many clubs also had their own activities, which meant people tended to be stretched pretty thin. There was also the matter of choosing something everyone agreed on, which usually ended with a vote, hence how a lot of classes ended up with something simple and easy. But to choose a café…how boring could you possibly be?

The second-place choice had been a music recital – music from popular singers, films and anime – which would've been performed in the gym three or four times during the festival. Sure he'd probably end up playing the triangle, but that was infinitely better than waiting on his fellow students for half the day. Then Hiraoka with her big mouth had told everyone he worked as a waiter part-time and suddenly he was made in charge of training everyone. Now everyone treated him as the resident expert, partly in mockery…

Only a few people had arrived – good, he wasn't late – and were setting up tables according to a plan they'd drawn up a few days before. Part of the room, farthest from the door, was sectioned off as the 'kitchen'. Originally they were only going to make tea, coffee and other drinks, and serve pre-made cakes and pastries, but somehow someone had managed to source two (semi-) portable electric ovens, which had prompted a few of his classmates to decide to become bakers for the day. He was pretty sure it was Tsukasa's influence in the student council that had got the idea through the health and safety paperwork, for better or for worse.

Well, at least he wasn't trying to juggle two things at once. Many students, Mitsuha included, were spending some time with the class and some with their club, which meant less manpower overall. Everyone also got half the day off to actually enjoy the festival of course, which meant an even smaller workforce. Depending on how busy it got in here, things might get pretty tight. Luckily he had trained his classmates well. Hopefully, it would all be a success.

〈◇〉

Mitsuha had arrived even earlier than needed, yet she wasn't in the classroom with the majority of her classmates. Instead she was busy carrying boxes of books, wood and other things from one of the school's storerooms to where the literature club stall was. It was one of the smallest stalls, but that was because it was one of the simplest – all they had to do was sell books and advertise the club. Unfortunately they had ended up with a sub-optimal location, which was to be expected as their stall wasn't going to be that popular. Several would be serving food, so those would of course get all the prime spots and also more space per stall, leaving the smaller stalls such as theirs in the less desirable locations.

However, that didn't mean the literature club had little to offer. Along with the book they had collectively written, they also sold all the books students needed for school, such as books read for Japanese class, textbooks and exam preparation guides. The books were sold at a discount, and even though you could order a lot of them through the school, the literature club still managed to sell a fair few each cultural festival. They also gave book reviews and recommendations, although not many people would come to the stall just for those.

After carrying several boxes of books to and fro, Mitsuha was exhausted and took a short break. _Man, why didn't they give me a wheelbarrow…_ Books being made of paper, and paper of trees, meant a box of books was about as heavy as a large block of wood – that is, far too heavy for a not-completely-fit girl of eighteen to heave about for twenty minutes on end.

Before long her time was up, and she was needed by her own class to set up their little café. She would work in the classroom for a couple of hours, then at the book stall for a couple more, before finally having the afternoon off to explore and actually experience the festival. Since she had arrived early to help with setting everything up, she wouldn't be needed to pack everything away in the evening, which was a relief.

Mitsuha arrived at her classroom to find the desks and chairs rearranged and the temporary kitchen already under construction. It looked like there were around a dozen students so far, which was about right, since only half the class was required to arrive early. The desks had been pushed together in pairs or fours, with chairs set around them to make tables. Some desks had been used for the kitchen area, and the teacher's desk near the door was going to be used to hold menus; the person in charge of seating would stand there and seat guests as they arrived. At least, that was the idea – Mitsuha was pretty sure nobody had actually been assigned to make the menus, which meant they probably didn't exist. The tables were currently being covered in tablecloths by Taki, who was so engrossed in perfectly aligning the table he was working on that he didn't notice Mitsuha sneak up behind him.

"Good Morning, Mr Head Waiter! Miyamizu reporting for duty!" she announced, trying to startle him. Unfortunately, the general noise level in the room meant he barely even made out what she had said.

"Nice of you to finally turn up, Miss Book Girl. And please don't call me that, the others are already making it difficult enough as it is," he responded without turning. "How long have we got?"

"Around half an hour, a bit more. And I already told you I was going to be a bit late because of the literature club." Which was true. It was expected that some students would be involved in their club's activities as well, which meant they would be doing a shorter shift, arriving later or leaving earlier, as organised with the rest of the class. "What needs doing?"

Taki finished perfecting his current table and finally turned to address her. "Everyone else is here, so you should take the girls to the changing rooms and get changed. Us guys will go down once you're done."

Nodding in confirmation, Mitsuha rounded up the other six girls and relayed Taki's order. Together they collected their bags and went down two floors to the gym changing rooms. Once inside, the girls began unpacking their clothes and comparing outfits.

Once a café had been decided on, one of the first items of business was what kind of style or theme they were going for. A lot of the boys had seemed worryingly obsessed with the idea of a maid café, which few of the girls seemed to share their sentiment for. Fortunately, the idea had been scrapped…well, sort of. Collectively the class had agreed that they wanted a relaxed, yet professional atmosphere, which meant somewhat formal clothing. However, since a maid outfit _did_ technically fit the bill, one particular classmate had decided to go for it anyway. Apparently she had almost brought cat ears, before a more sensible friend of hers had managed to talk her out of it.

Mitsuha had purchased a normal, smart-looking waitress uniform in a cheap shop she'd found in Shinjuku – what she was going to do with it after this, she had no idea. As she looked at the other girl's clothes, she saw mostly similar outfits to her own, with minor variations. Black top, some short-sleeved, some long; black trousers or frock; tied-back hair with a hairband or scrunchie (Mitsuha replaced her usual red cord with a black one); and some had white aprons, herself included. Taki had warned them they wouldn't match if they all got different outfits, but they were close enough – except for the maid outfit of course, with headband and all.

The group of seven got a few looks as they went back up to the classroom, and made sure to tell anyone who was interested which class they were from, in case they wanted to pop in later. Not that they were the most curiously-dressed students there – Mitsuha was sure she would see some far more wacky outfits soon enough.

〈◇〉

Business was slow. It was early, which meant nobody was hungry. In the two hours since the festival had officially 'opened', the room had never gone past half-full. Fortunately, that meant less work for everyone. Unfortunately, it meant they were _way_ too overstaffed. It was pretty much just Taki and Mitsuha waiting, while their ten classmates baked and decorated cakes and biscuits at an incredible rate. If this kept up, there would be enough sugary treats left over to give the whole class diabetes.

The two of them stood side by side, leaning on the counter and watching as students walked past, peeked in, and decided now wasn't the best time for a snack. The rest of the class had visited them a few at a time, as well as their homeroom teacher – they had stayed to eat and drink something of course, but they'd all come and gone already.

"Taki," Mitsuha began, still watching the door. "Do you think business will pick up soon? The seating area is half-empty and the kitchen's way too crowded, shouldn't it really be the other way around?"

"People will start coming in more over the next hour. Things should peak around lunchtime, between midday and one, and then slowly decline over the afternoon. There might be a second peak at around three, if we're lucky." She caught him looking over at her. "But you won't be here to see any of that, you need to go soon, don't you?"

Mitsuha sighed and looked at the clock. "Now, actually. I just wanted to see a bit of the action, but I guess I'm going to miss it." She looked toward Taki. "As hectic as it was, being a waiter at that place you work at was pretty fun."

Taki smiled at the memory. "You kept taking extra shifts to pay for all that food you kept buying, and they always ended up on days that we didn't swap." Despite being so near to so many other people, neither tried to lower their voice – the noise from the hallway, the focus of the bakers on their jobs and the lack of details in their conversation meant that it was unlikely someone could glean anything from their conversation. "Okudera still wears that apron."

Mitsuha grinned. "The one I stitched up?"

"The very same. She wears it every day she can." Mitsuha had really liked Okudera and wanted to see her again one of these days. Taki had definitely had a thing for her, and she'd set up a date between them, but Taki hadn't mentioned her yet, so they couldn't be going out.

"How did your date go, by the way." Taki looked confused – perhaps he didn't remember? "You know, the one I set up for you with Okudera, on the last day we swapped. Didn't you get my message?"

"Oh, that one." Taki laughed awkwardly. "Yeah, that didn't go so well. She kinda got the impression that I liked…someone else." He looked away from Mitsuha as he continued. "I guess it didn't really click on that day, for whatever reason. I just felt out of it, no idea why. Besides, looking back I'm kind of happy that it didn't happen. I mean," he said as he looked back at Mitsuha, "you were the one that got me that date. It was your personality, your character combined with your imitation of me that actually got me that far. She's looking for someone a little more…feminine than I am. Which is why I'm trying to get Tsukasa to go for her. He's definitely got a thing for her."

"Tsukasa? Hmm…yeah, I can see that. More feminine, huh…" It made surprisingly more sense than she'd expected, but she could see it now. _Okudera and Tsukasa, that could work._

"Speak of the devil and he shall appear," came from beside her, and she followed Taki's gaze to find none other than Tsukasa himself entering the classroom. Extraordinarily busy with student council work, he had been the only member of the class yet to visit.

"How are things?" he asked, looking around with a neutral expression. "A bit slow at the moment?"

"It hasn't got any fuller than this so far." Mitsuha looked over to the clock – she really had to be going immediately. "I need to go and get changed, I'm going to be helping at the literature club stall in about five minutes," she explained as she picked up her bag from the pile of belongings in the corner behind the counter. "I'll be back in the afternoon, as a customer of course."

Taki and Tsukasa waved as she walked to the door. "I'll visit you there after my shift," Taki called out as she left. His shift finished at midday, and hers finished at one o'clock, so there was plenty of time for him to come down and buy the book they'd been working on together. Speaking of which, Hiraoka and Kana should be turning up at the stall at some point during the day; perhaps they had already come and gone. Hiraoka's café shift was in the afternoon so it was likely she hade already bought the book early, and as for Kana, she didn't really know since she was in a different class.

After getting changed back into her regular uniform, Mitsuha put on her outdoor shoes and left the main school building. The corridors and stairs had already been busy, but she'd managed to ignore everything going on as she beelined for the gym changing rooms. However, outside was a different story. The doors were propped open, with a steady stream of people entering and exiting; for the first time Mitsuha was annoyed at the Japanese obsession of indoor and outdoor shoes, as the shoe lockers were way too crowded.

Finally getting out the doors, the first sense to be assaulted was her nose. The smells of grilled meat, fried fish and green tea all invaded her nostrils as she waded through the sea of students (and the odd teacher). All around the main entrance were food stalls selling all sorts of sweet and savoury snacks. Their classroom had been quite empty, due being on the top floor and only serving drinks and cakes, but out here the food game was in full swing, and it was only going to get more hectic as lunchtime approached. This was the one choke point in the entire school, the only way to go from inside the building to outside or vice-versa, so naturally the stalls here were seen by literally every single student at the festival, attracting a lot of business.

Along with the mish-mash of smells came the noise of a large, uncoordinated crowd. All around Mitsuha were groups of friends chatting away, shouting to each other and advertising their goods. At least two different pieces of music were playing in the near distance, and although Mitsuha could barely see the stalls supposedly surrounding her, their large banners and balloons were certainly visible.

For a moment all Mitsuha could do was stand there, turning in circles and looking, hearing, smelling…just _experiencing_ the event taking place all around her. Except it wasn't just around her – she wasn't merely a visitor or spectator. She was a part of this grand event; only one small piece, but isn't that what a machine is made of, a million tiny pieces all working together? For the first time since she'd arrived in Tokyo she truly felt like she was a part of something. _So this is what a school festival is really like._

Back in Itomori, school festivals were tiny. They were fundamentally the same idea, just executed on a far smaller and less impressive scale. The full-town festivals were much larger and as guardians of the shrine, the Miyamizu family had always held a central role in any major celebration – she herself had performed at many of them. At the time she'd always hated the autumn festival; she found the dances embarrassing, the rituals pointless and the whole event far too much work. But looking back, there had always been a feeling of unity and belonging, of being part of something greater. Sure she'd attended a couple of festivals in Tokyo since she'd moved here, but she had never been a real part of them in the way she had been at Itomori, where they brought the entire town together to celebrate as one. Now, for the first time since the comet had fallen, she was getting the chance to experience that again.

Closing her eyes and smiling amidst the noise, Mitsuha basked in the feeling of belonging. For a few moments she just sensed, _experienced_ the atmosphere. Finally opening her eyes again, she began to move with the flow of the crowd. She had somewhere she needed to be.

〈◆〉

It was lunchtime, and everything was a shambles. Every table was full (they had already brought in extras), there was a small queue outside, and three drinks had already been spilled. But the real problem, the source of all this colossal, far too eventful mess, was-

"Satou, where's table three's hot chocolate?" Taki called across the counter. "They've been waiting for ten minutes."

"Table three wanted a hot chocolate?" The boy looked around before spotting a note that had fallen to the floor and bent to pick it up. "Oh yeah, right here…hot chocolate…sorry, I must've dropped it…"

It was the staff, of course. Uncoordinated, slow and forgetful, they had made everything ten times harder than it should've been. Of course, they weren't all bad – Taki had taught them himself. A little crash course on taking and delivering orders, efficient communication, and what to do when things go wrong. The problem was that the students best at being waiters wanted to do all the pouring and baking, and that left all the terrible waiters doing the serving. And it didn't help that the changeover was at midday, exactly when business started getting busy. Fortunately one of the new arrivals was Kaneda, a normally prim and proper girl who had suddenly gained an immeasurable aura of confidence and power after putting on her uniform. She was co-ordinating things in the 'kitchen' while Taki sorted out anything on the main café floor. He could already hear her snapping at Satou to get the drinks done more quickly.

Taki spotted a group of four leaving and quickly weaved through the packed classroom to get to their vacated table. It was vital that tables were cleaned immediately to allow a new group to enter as soon as possible. As he carried away their plates and cups, Taki signalled to Fujinuma – four fingers raised, indicating that a table for four had just become available. He would fetch someone in, seat them and tell them what was available, as apparently nobody had taken the initiative to make any menus. The dirty dishes were carefully dumped in a large bucket, which when full would be taken to the nearest sink (there wasn't one in the classroom) and washed. They were also piggybacking multiple multi-socket extension leads on each other, which was a pretty big safety hazard. _I told them this would be a bad idea…._

When the vote had been cast, Taki had unsuccessfully tried to persuade the class that a café was more trouble than it was worth. There was no easy way to deal with the mess or dirty dishes, business would be extremely inconsistent, and nobody really knew what they were doing. At least they had listened when he told them it would be better to take orders than line up at the counter – lining up would mean a long queue crowding the room and people standing in line for ages, thanks to the absurdly slow service they were providing. At least this way they lined up outside and got a seat as soon as they were shown in.

Perhaps he was being too harsh on his classmates. He was a professional – he knew the manners and etiquette, had the skills and know-how. He could carry four trays at once, two on each arm, without spilling a drop. Meanwhile, the others had been given a simple, whirlwind explanation and then told to get it right on the first try. And maybe the routine he'd given them was a tad too complicated. But still, when someone spills their drink you don't shout at them to clean it up themselves! It's one of the basics of good customer service…

"Tachibana!" After working so long as a waiter, Taki was used to daydreaming while working on autopilot, always keeping one ear open in case he was called. He turned to see Kaneda looking down at him…or at least it felt like that, even though she was six inches shorter. _This new Kaneda is kinda scary, but also…actually, let's not finish that thought._

"What is it?" Taki asked.

"It's one o'clock," she said, hands on her hips. "Why are you still here?" Taki looked at the clock – it was indeed a few minutes past the hour…wait, one o'clock already?! "You've been here an hour longer than you should've. Go and enjoy the festival already. I think the queue outside is getting smaller, I'll be able to handle the rest myself." _The scary Kaneda is angry at me…_ "Hey, I said scram!" And with that she turned back to the coffee machine.

 _It's one already? Mitsuha's shift at the stall has finished already, but maybe she'll still be there._ Taki grabbed his bag, gave a quick wave to anyone looking vaguely in his direction and snaked through the tables to the door. Behind him he heard a shout. "Tachibana! Hey, Taki!" He turned and saw Kaneda looking at him. "I liked the book!" She smiled, and Taki returned it, before they simultaneously turned away – they both had things to do.

Outside, there was a short que of students waiting to be seated – apparently word had gone around quickly, and somehow they were the only place in the school offering hot chocolate and brownies (which had been accidentally mass-produced in the morning but were now finally being of use). The rest of the hallway had a fair few students, but it wasn't packed, although looking out the window, he could see that the main entrance would be absolutely impenetrable. Taki dashed along the hall, skipped down the stairs two at a time and ran into the empty gym changing rooms, where he quickly replaced his work uniform with his standard school attire. Running to the school's entrance, he had to tell a couple of first-years to move along before he could access his shoe locker and swap his shoes.

Taki forced his way out the main entrance and past all the big stalls. He didn't know where the literature club space was, only that it was quite far from the entrance and probably much less crowded. He ignored everything and everyone around him – he had somewhere he needed to be, and besides, he'd seen it all a dozen times before. He could enjoy it later; for now-

Breaking through the crowd and round a corner, Taki saw two parallel lines of much less busy stalls. And right there, just ahead and to his left, was the one he had been looking for. But as he approached, he couldn't spot Mitsuha. Nearing the stall, he was afraid he'd missed her – until a girl facing away from him turned around and he breathed a sigh of relief. _I'd have recognised her earlier if she'd been wearing her usual red cord in her hair._ For some reason she'd changed to black today. _She looks pretty…_

… _pretty bored! I meant pretty bored! Not pretty! Nope, no, not at all…well, maybe just a bit. And now I'm blushing. Better relieve her of her prettiness, I mean boredom!_ Mentally hitting himself, Taki decided to put Mitsuha out of her misery. "Hey," he called as he finally entered her line of sight.

Her head turned and her face lit up. Immediately she stood up straighter and smiled at him, then seemed to remember she was supposed to be ticked off. "Hey. I mean, hey!" she corrected, saying the same word, just more angrily. "Weren't you supposed to be here an hour ago? Have you been having fun without me?"

"Only if you call managing a rag-tag bunch of misfit waiters 'fun'. Business picked up right after you left," he explained.

"Oh great, I left just as things got interesting and arrived here just as things calmed down. Apparently it was busy in the morning, but now not many people are actually stopping to talk or buy anything." So that was why she looked so bored.

"It would've been good if you'd stayed at the café then. It's been pretty hectic, especially since midday. The changeover was right at the busiest part of the day, and all the good waiters wanted to do the baking, so it's kind of a mess. I guess I kind of lost track of time organising the new group." Taki grinned at Mitsuha. "You and I would've been great together, doing the waiting. You left at just the wrong time."

"If it was that hectic then I'm glad I got out when I did," she said. "Well anyway, buy a book already so I can go and enjoy the festival." Taki dug around in his bag and found some money. "It's 900 yen." Mitsuha answered his question before he had time to ask it, and Taki handed over his 1,000-yen bill. Beside Mitsuha, a tall, blonde girl opened the money case and gave him his change. _Didn't know there were any foreigners here, you'd think I'd have seen her around at some point._

Mitsuha handed him the book, and already he was hit with a surprise – the front cover artwork was one of his (and hardback, which explained the high price). Turning the book over, he saw it continued onto the back. To get a better look at the full picture, Taki carefully placed the book on the table longways, spine facing up, and picked up the front and back covers with one hand each so that they opened up to make one continuous image.

"How do you like it?" Mitsuha had come to stand beside him and was looking at him intently. "It was Erina's idea." She pointed towards the blonde-haired girl, and Taki finally realised who she was.

"You're Erina, the literature club president?" Taki asked.

She nodded. "I was very impressed by both your artwork and with Mitsuha's story. Most of the stories didn't have any artwork, and you had done so much, so we decided to use yours for the front, back and inside covers. I hope you don't mind."

"No, not at all." Taki was speechless. In front of him was a printed book, a real book with stories and poems and imagination and dreams and people would read it and see it and…and the first thing they would see, right on the front cover, was _his_ artwork. It wasn't even something Mitsuha had asked him to draw, he'd just done it on a whim – a massive skyscape of the comet as it fell, cascading blues and greens soaring through the starlit night, the main piece landing on the front cover and the smaller landing on the back. Just seeing it in front of him like this somehow made it feel so real, almost as if he was there himself….

Taki took a deep breath, got a hold of himself and picked up the book normally. In the inside front cover was his drawing of Itomori in the daytime before the disaster, and in the inside back cover was his drawing of the destroyed Itomori. Turning back to the front, he navigated to the contents, finding the entry for Mitsuha's story. _Threads of Fate by Miyamizu Mitsuha (Class 3B): page 88_. He quickly flicked to the right page and started to move through the story one picture at a time. Having already read some of Mitsuha's drafts, he skipped over the actual text – he would read the full thing later. Right now, all he wanted to see was how his drawings had come out, and just as with the covers, he was not disappointed. Some had been cropped to fit on a single page, but they were all full-colour, and most of his drawings were present.

Out of the corner of his eye he could see Mitsuha's gaze moving between the pages and his own face – she wanted to gauge his reaction. Satisfied, he closed the book, composed his breathing, and faced her. She was smiling, and he could feel that smile reflected on his own face – not just on his lips, but on his eyes, too. Right then, all he wanted to do was hug her. But not now – not yet. There would be time for that, just a little later.

"It's amazing, Mitsuha," he finally managed to get out.

"Isn't it?" she replied, her eyes sparkling. "It's really turned out well."

"It sure has. I've never seen my artwork used like this before. And I haven't read the story yet, but I know it's even better."

"You've already read the earlier drafts, so I guess I can believe you. But I still expect a full review later, okay?"

"Okay."

They stood, looking at each other for a few moments, before Erina rudely butted in. "Are you two lovebirds going to be staring into each other's souls all day?"

Taki and Mitsuha laughed awkwardly, one scratching his neck as the other played with her hair in embarrassment. But neither even tried to deny it.

〈◆〉

"Man, I'm exhausted." Mitsuha had really made the most of the festival, dragging Taki this way and that and generally going everywhere and doing everything. Taki had seen and done it all before, so the novelty was lost on him, but Mitsuha's energy and enthusiasm had made this year's cultural festival feel like his first, rather than his last. So for her sake, he'd accompanied her everywhere she went.

They'd visited every single classroom – haunted houses, plays, cosplay, art galleries, tournaments…you name it, they'd seen it. There were various competitions and performances put on by sports and performing arts clubs, and of course they had gone back to their own class and had some tea and cakes when things had quietened down. Kana joined them for a while, they saw Tsukasa once or twice, and Hiraoka was working at the café when they went there to eat, but other than that they spent most of the day as a pair.

It was nearly four o'clock and the festival was dying down. Although it officially closed at the hour, some things would probably go on for a bit longer, but it wasn't worth sticking around unless you either hadn't seen everything (they had) or were on clean-up duty (they weren't). So when Mitsuha declared herself tired, Taki made the suggestion that they make their way home – they did take the same train, after all.

"Oh, I can't go yet, I'm helping the literature club pack away the stall."

"Didn't you help in the morning? And with our class as well?"

"They had a shortage of people willing to help out, so I volunteered." She checked the time on her phone. "They should be packing up in around ten minutes, so I'm going to stay until then at least, and give them a hand if they need it. You can go if you want."

"Well, actually there is one thing left to do." He'd saved this for last on purpose. "There's something I want to show you." Leading Mitsuha inside and to the art storeroom, he simply ushered her inside in response to her quizzical look.

"This is just the storeroom for art supplies, right?"

Taki moved to a large drawer, opened it, and withdrew a large, plastic folder. "I want to give this to you," he said, and presented it to Mitsuha, with two arms outstretched and a slight bow.

"For…for me?" Mitsuha took it and bowed in return, wondering what it was. It looked like a blank piece of paper enclosed in a giant plastic wallet…and then she turned it over, and gasped.

On the reverse side was the drawing that adorned the cover of the literature club's book – a massive, star-filled night sky, lit up even further by comet Tiamat splitting in two and leaving behind a glowing trail. But there was more – at the bottom was a crater at the top of a mountain, and on the edge were two shapes. They were definitely human, but they were tiny, impossible to properly make out other than that they were facing each other. Around the two floated a red line, a thread of some sort. It reminded Mitsuha of something, something she knew she needed to remember, but now wasn't the time. The drawing took her breath away; she didn't have room for anything in her mind but the expanding beauty of what Taki had put into her hands.

"This is…" She didn't have words to describe it. She'd seen the scans of course, and the book cover, but seeing the original like this, and having it given to her as a gift, made it so much more special.

"I finished it last night," Taki explained. "The scan I sent you back in September was as far as I'd got, and it wasn't something you'd actually asked me to draw, so I didn't get round to finishing it." He paused, and began to speak more quietly. "I just woke up one morning with it in my mind, I don't know where it came from. I don't even know for sure who those people are, although I can make a good guess. Anyway, I was going to give you the one of daytime Itomori, but I figured you'd like this one more."

Mitsuha was completely absorbed in the details. "Yes," she breathed, "I do like this one more." Placing the drawing onto a nearby table, she opened her bag and pulled out something – the red braided cord. _She must have switched it with the black one to match her café uniform_ , Taki realised. "This red line here, this…thread. Is it…this?" she asked, pointing to the drawing with one hand and holding the cord in the other.

Taki nodded. "I don't know why I put it there, it just felt…right."

Mitsuha smiled, more to herself than to him. "Yes, it does," she whispered. Then she reached a hand up, and slowly pulled one hanging end of the black cord in her hair. As the loop shrunk and eventually vanished, Mitsuha's hair unwound itself and cascaded down her shoulders and back. Jet black and slightly wavy, Taki watched enraptured as Mitsuha swept it all behind her neck, coiled it round onto itself, and deftly retied it with the red cord, all without taking her eyes off the cord in the drawing. Finally managing to tear her gaze away, Mitsuha turned to face Taki, walked towards him, and wrapped her arms warmly around his neck.

"Thank you," she whispered. "For this beautiful drawing, for all the drawings, for helping me, for being there, for recognising me that day, for swapping with me all that time ago…thank you so much, Taki."

Taki carefully placed his own arms around Mitsuha's slender body, comfortable in their embrace, and closed his eyes. He could feel her hair on his face, her hands on his shoulders, her breath on his neck. It felt perfect. "No, thank _you_ ," he replied, tightening his hold as he felt her tighten hers. "For pulling me into your life, and living mine, and for never forgetting about me." His voice broke slightly. "I feel like you brought back a part of me that I'd been looking for for a very long time."

Taki felt something brush against his nose, and opened his eyes to see the red braided cord right in front of his face. This close, he could see the intricate detail – the interwoven patterns, meticulously formed, the dance of the threads; a tradition refined over centuries of practice. And he saw it as if with newly opened eyes.

It was made from thread, in the town protected by thread – it was their very own red thread of fate.

* * *

 **A/N**

They're so close, yet so far! They still have a long way to go yet…literally. But before we get to the lovey-dovey stuff, Mitsuha needs to deal with the fallout of the story she just published (and boy will it spread fast). There's also going to be an interesting development next chapter which will set the grounds for the ending of the story. For those of you eagerly awaiting our heroine and hero to officially get together, fear not! Also, in case you didn't catch it, the 'red thread of fate' is an East Asian belief that a red thread or string connects destined lovers. The Japanese term for this is 'akai-ito' and shares the character for 'thread' with the 'ito' in 'Itomori'.

The first half of this chapter was hard to write, but the second half just flowed super easily to the point where it ended up being about 2,000 words longer than I'd expected. Oh well, more for you guys to read I guess. It's back to uni now, I hope you all had a good Christmas, New Year and winter holiday in general!

Interesting news: I am now betaing a fic! The fic is **Fate: Unbalanced Scales** by **SomeWritingGuy**. It's a Fate/Zero and Fate/Stay Night canon divergence fic where Kiritsugu has some premonitions about the fourth grail war and decides to take some…precautionary measures. The latest chapter (chapter 8) has just moved beyond the end of the fourth war and is ready to begin setting up for the fifth, and you can expect it to be an all-star cast! I've been working on the plot of my own F/SN canon divergence fic for several months now, so expect that to be the next fic I start after this one finishes (favourite me if you want to be notified when it comes out).

As always, please review/comment if you liked/didn't like the chapter/story/writing style/overuse of slashes in this sentence.

 _Talndir_


	13. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

The classroom door was slightly open, and Mitsuha could hear voices coming from inside. Filled with apprehension, she opened the door fully and moved into the doorway. Immediately, the head of every student in the class whipped round to face her, and there was a single moment of silence before everyone began shouting at once. Unable to face the music, Mitsuha backed out of the room…straight into a pair of small, firm hands. "In you go," came the voice of Hiraoka behind her as she was forced back into the classroom. "You brought this on yourself, after all."

"Well thanks for the encouragement…" Mitsuha mumbled as her friend steered her towards her seat. Most of the class had arrived already, but unfortunately Taki was not among them – he would surely provide some much-needed backup once he arrived. But Hiraoka was right – it _was_ her fault, and she _had_ known this would happen. Being from Itomori was already enough to make her a rarity, but being a _miko_ and writing a story implicating her own family in Itomori's inception…that was sure to elevate her to celebrity status, for a few weeks at least. Luckily she hadn't been questioned on the way up to her classroom, which meant the lower years hadn't found out what she looked like yet. But once they did…

Mitsuha sat down in her usual seat and began unpacking her things as a crowd rapidly formed around her desk and began bombarding her with questions. According to Hiraoka's phone call last night, word had spread quickly via LINE, which meant anyone who knew her had already been informed, even if they hadn't bought or read the book themselves. Someone had even scanned the story in and spread it around, which Mitsuha was _not_ happy about. There were plenty of spare copies, why resort to piracy when they're so readily available?

Suddenly a copy of the book landed on the desk in front of her, and a loud voice accompanied it. "Is it true? Is the story based on your family's actual history?" The room fell silent as Mitsuha looked up at the boy who had spoken. He was large, loud and not someone Mitsuha had ever spoken to – she wasn't even sure of his name. But clearly he knew hers, and on behalf of the class had asked the one question on all their minds. Behind her, Mitsuha heard Hiraoka sigh loudly. _"Can't these cretins read?!"_ was evidently the message she was trying to convey; they'd clearly written about how it was all based on a real event at the beginning of the story, at Erina's request.

But if they really, _really_ needed explicit confirmation… "Yes, it's true. My family ran the shrine in Itomori, I was a _miko_ and that is the legend of Itomori's creation that was passed down through the Miyamizu family. And that's it."

Immediately after she'd finished, the bombardment resumed, this time with even more energy, and Mitsuha physically winced as the volume increased. She was sure Hiraoka was sighing behind her, but couldn't hear it for all the pointless questions being lobbed at her from all directions.

"Are you still a _miko_?" _No!_

"Is the comet from two years ago the same one as in the story?" _Probably._

"Can you see the future in woven stuff?" _No, and anyway I can't weave anything besides braided cords._

"Do you know the special weaving technique?" _Yes._

"Did you order the evacuation from Itomori?" _Apparently, but I can't remember it._

"Are you married?" _No, I'm…wait, WHAT?! How is that even relevant? Of course I'm not!_

"Sign my book!" _…Seriously?_

"Please, you're going to give me a headache…" Mitsuha mumbled to herself, head down and trying to ignore the students practically sitting on her desk. "Guys." She was speaking too quietly. "Guys!" She tried raising her volume, but her voice still wasn't heard over the din of the rest of the class. "Please STOP!" Mitsuha shouted, finally shocking the room into silence. "Finally!" She looked up to see at least fifteen of her classmates looking at her expectantly. She picked up the book that had been dropped on her desk and held it out for someone to take – it wasn't hers and she _definitely_ wasn't signing it. Someone finally took it from her, and she realised they were waiting for her to say something.

At a loss for what to say to the mob surrounding her, she was luckily saved by Hiraoka sitting behind her. "As Mitsuha's editor," she began, causing all heads to turn towards her, "I must request that all questions for my client be submitted in writing." She looked sternly at the students closest to her, which only made them stare back. "Quit bugging her, do you think it's fun to relive the moment your town and all its inhabitants were almost crushed by a giant space rock? Honestly, have some decency and give her some space."

"You heard her, quit pestering," came a voice from near the door. Mitsuha perked up as Taki's head appeared over the shoulders of the guy in front of her. "Just read the book, that'll answer most of your questions. If you haven't got a copy, you can get one from the literature club – they meet tomorrow in…which room was it again?"

"Class 2-1," Mitsuha answered. "Now please just sit down, you're all being a bit overwhelming." Quite honestly, she would vastly prefer some feedback on the story itself, rather than an unending tirade of (mostly stupid) questions. To her relief, the crowd dispersed and sat back in their seats, but from what she could hear it was clear that they were talking about her. _I knew this was going to be a bad idea…_ She looked up and smiled at Taki. "Thanks." Mitsuha turned around in her chair. "And you too, Hiraoka."

Hiraoka just shrugged, so Taki answered for the both of them. "No problem. I thought you were over-exaggerating the impact it would have, until I had a first-year come up to me at the shoe lockers and ask me if I knew 'the Itomori girl, Mitsu-mahou'. I was kinda shocked for a minute there."

 _Mahou_ as in 'magic'…this was already going too far. "Mitsu-mahou, huh? So

they really _do_ think I'm a magical girl, then. This is gonna be such a mess…" Mitsuha folded her arms on the table and laid her head on them in despair. If her life was going to be like this for the next few weeks, it would all have been far too much trouble for far too little gain. "Oh, why did I decide to do this? Mitsu-mahou…"

She felt rather than heard Taki lean in towards her. "Well, they're not exactly wrong, are they?" he whispered. "The story pretty clearly had supernatural stuff going on, and so do you, what with all the body-swapping and all. Maybe your shrine maiden outfit is your magical costume, and your special power is invading the bodies of handsome boys."

Mitsuha's face went red as she buried it even deeper into her arms. "Don't you start, too," she mumbled at Taki, who laughed and moved away. "This is going to be bad enough without you joining in as well."

〈◇〉

Break, lunch and end of final period – the three parts of the day every student lived and breathed for. Except Mitsuha, that was. For her, the monotony of regular classes gave her space and time to relax. But as soon as the teacher left, she would be approached and forced to answer questions about this and that, while others would chat on about her as if she wasn't even there. During lunch, Mitsuha had tried to leave and find some peace and quiet, only to be immediately confronted by a gaggle of curious second-years. Apparently, some members of the literature club had been a little too forthcoming with her details, which meant a good portion of the school now knew exactly who she was and which class she was in. _Was this what Yukino-sensei went through when she first arrived here?_

The biggest problem was that she was repeating herself, a lot. If everyone who was interested was present for just one hour, she could probably answer every single question quickly and concisely. But because different people would ask her the same question each, she would have to give the same answer multiple times. The longest was, of course, how she found the legend in the first place. In a valiant effort to be as truthful and accurate as possible, Mitsuha had explained everything from Itomori's inception to the Mayugoro fire to her visit to the National Diet Library; it had taken over half her lunch hour. As soon as she was finished with that, not only did that group have even _more_ questions, but the next person to show up had wanted to hear exactly the same story. At that point she'd turned to Hiraoka and Taki to chase them away before she ran out of time to eat. They'd even jokingly suggested she write a whole book of her own to answer all the questions.

But Mitsuha wasn't the only one getting some extra attention. In art class, while they were doing their still-life drawings of plants, the teacher had come round to look at everyone's work and specifically commented on Taki's drawings of Itomori he'd done for the book. Apparently he wasn't usually that great with colour, so the beautiful renditions he'd done of the town and comet had really impressed the old art teacher. That wasn't to say he wasn't normally a good artist, he'd just really pulled out all the stops this time, for which Mitsuha was especially grateful.

Finally the end of the day reared its head, and Mitsuha was free to get away from her overly persistent classmates. Except, the day wasn't quite over yet. As soon as the teacher dismissed the class, Mitsuha quickly packed her things away and rushed to Taki's desk before he could take off. She tapped him on the shoulder to get him to turn his head and leaned in so their conversation could be a little more private. "Are you free tonight?"

Taki did a slight double-take. "Free? Um…y-yeah, I guess. What were you planning?" He was reacting weirdly…maybe she had phrased the question in a strange way? _Are you free tonight…oh…_. Suddenly Mitsuha's cheeks flared up as well as she realised what that kind of question sounded like.

"D-don't be stupid, not like that!" she denied, looking away briefly. "I want to buy a frame for that painting you gave me, but I don't really know anything about that stuff. I wanted some help in picking out a good one. I know it's a bit spontaneous, but I thought you might want to meet my family, too. Especially Grandma, you said she knew about the…you know, swapping." Mitsuha whispered that last part, and it caught Taki's attention immediately. He'd mentioned several times how her grandmother had somehow known when they had swapped bodies, so perhaps meeting her might trigger something.

Taki looked seriously at her and nodded. "Yeah, I'm free. I've wanted to meet her for a while, actually. And I have a few words for your dad, too…" Taki returned to packing his things, more earnestly than before.

"Oh, don't be like that," Mitsuha chastised. "He's very different now, you'll see." As soon as Taki was done, he stood up and they quickly left the room together. If they didn't hurry, someone was bound to recognise and stop them on the way down. Luckily their class had ended a few minutes early, so the corridors were mostly empty.

〈◆〉

The two arrived at Mitsuha's house around an hour later. Taki was carrying their purchases in a large carrier bag. They'd gone to a reputable art shop in Shibuya, one that he had visited often, and picked out everything they needed. Getting a frame custom-made was expensive and buying a standard one was often going to result in poor quality. Luckily for Mitsuha, Taki knew what he was doing and bought everything they would need – mat board, glass, backing, and of course the frame itself. He'd had experience with bad frames before, so he knew exactly what to look for and what to avoid. In the end, they'd managed to get a decent-quality batch of materials, with the glass and mat board cut to size by a shop assistant, and all for a reasonable six thousand yen. Well, reasonable to Taki, anyway – Mitsuha had been horrified.

The subway had been busy but manageable, and the walk peaceful, if a little chilly. November was getting along, and the sun was close to setting; the streetlamps were already on. As they walked, they talked about this and that, mostly keeping away from the topic of Itomori and the day's frustrations. For Mitsuha, the entire process of research, writing, editing and selling had been almost cathartic, a way to completely come to terms with what had happened. Taki could see the changes – she had been much more relaxed and open over the last couple of months, her worries and fears being transferred from her soul to the page. And in a few weeks' time, once the spotlight moved away from her, Taki was sure that Mitsuha would feel much more comfortable when talking about where she's from.

As for Taki himself, he was just happy to finally make his dreams a reality. He didn't want to lose those memories, and thanks to Mitsuha he was able to devote his entire summer holidays to capturing those images forever through the medium of art. Now that he knew almost the entire story, it was good to let it all go behind him. Before, those dreams had been glimpses into a life he could never quite remember or understand, and now he could finally move on. He'd turned shards of another life into a timeline of coherent, happy memories.

Eventually they reached the flat. It was in a recently built-up area, and Taki could tell from one outside glance that it would be far bigger than the tiny place he shared with his dad. The area wasn't known for being too expensive, but it wasn't exactly cheap either – Taki suspected it was paid for by a combination of Mitsuha's dad's current salary, as well as the not-insignificant sum he would've been on as mayor of Itomori. Without even entering he could already tell it was a pretty tidy place. But for Mitsuha, it was a far cry from the traditional Japanese house she'd lived in back in Itomori.

The Miyamizu family lived on the ground floor, so Mitsuha simply unlocked the side door and went straight in. "I'm home," she called out down the quiet hallway, and Taki heard a muffled 'Welcome home!' from a nearby room. Mitsuha closed the door behind them as they removed their shoes, and she motioned for Taki to put his bag down as well. "Just dump it here, and your schoolbag and coat, too. I'll just put mine in my room." She disappeared around the corner and returned a second later, sans the schoolbag. Mitsuha beckoned him towards her as she opened a door partway down the hallway and moved into the room beyond.

As she entered, an elderly voice carried over the quiet sound of a TV. "Welcome home, Mitsuha…oh, you brought a friend?" The room was set up quite simply; it was square, with a low central table surrounded by cushions, a door to an adjoining kitchen and a television in one corner. Windows on one side let in the last of the evening's light, which fell directly onto the occupant of the only chair in the room. The TV was on and currently being watched by someone who could only be described as 'Mitsuha, but smaller'. Her dad wasn't home yet, probably still at work.

Taki decided now would be a good time to remember his manners and bowed after closing the door behind him. "I'm Tachibana Taki, one of Mitsuha's classmates. I worked with her on the story she wrote for the cultural festival. Nice to meet you." As the family offered their own formalities, Taki straightened and looked to Mitsuha expectantly. It took a few seconds, but Mitsuha finally realised what she was forgetting to do – introduce her family to him. He already knew them, but they didn't already know him, so as weird as it was going to feel, Mitsuha would have to introduce everyone properly and he would have to pretend he didn't know them. It was like the opposite of one year ago – back then he'd been thrust into Mitsuha's life without knowing enough, and now this time he knew too much.

"This is my sister, Yotsuha," Mitsuha needlessly explained as they passed the table. Taki waved and she returned the gesture. "And this is my grandmother, on my mother's side. We've lived with her ever since we were little."

The old woman looked him up and down, then smiled. "So you're the one who did those illustrations for Mitsuha's story, is that right?" Taki nodded, and she smiled even wider. "They were very beautiful, and extremely accurate. I was happily surprised when Mitsuha showed them to me. And the story as well, of course. We were all thoroughly impressed by your joint efforts, including those other two girls who helped out." It seemed as though she didn't recognise him, which was both relieving and disappointing. "So, what brings you here today?"

"You'll see in a minute!" Mitsuha said as she popped out the room and out of sight, most likely retrieving the artwork and what they'd bought that afternoon. Yotsuha followed her out, which left just him and Hitoha. He turned away from the door, only to find her staring intently at his face. Her eyes were deep and thoughtful, and her face was inscrutable. Her previous happy smile had been replaced by a pensive expression that he'd seen on her only a few times before.

"Tachibana, did you say your name was?" she asked quietly, and Taki replied with a simple nod. "I believe we've met before. You may not remember – you were dreaming at the time." Taki suddenly became very awake, his eyes widening and his breath catching. "I see. In which case, please accept my humble thanks for helping save my granddaughters from the incident two years ago." Outside the room, Taki could hear some shuffling and talking – they were returning. Hitoha settled back into her chair and relaxed. "Take good care of her," she whispered, moments before the two girls re-entered.

Taki couldn't help but smile to himself. _So, the old woman remembers. She really did know exactly what was going on. I wonder if it happened to her too, when she was a child? Is this the power passed down through the Miyamizu family? Or perhaps she orchestrated the entire thing in the first place?_ He wasn't sure exactly how she'd managed to recognise him so quickly, but he was surprisingly relieved that she had – it was a final affirmation that it wasn't all in their heads, and proof that the whole body-swapping business was definitely linked to Miyamizu shrine. The story that Mitsuha had written was most likely true after all.

It took them around twenty minutes to assemble everything. Since Taki was the artist, he'd already known what kind of frame and what colour mat board would fit with the piece. He'd also had it cut so that the board would cover the edge of the painting, where you could still see some white unpainted paper. The glass was tricky – luckily the shop stocked anti-static brushes for wiping it down after removing the protective cover, otherwise dust would get stuck to it immediately. Finally, everything was completed. Enclosed was the image of comet Tiamat, illuminating two vague figures on the crest of a hill, surrounded by a red thread. The frame was wood of a dark colour, and the mat was white to contrast between the deep colours of the painting and frame. As far as he could see, nothing had got trapped between the glass and paper – it was done.

The frame rested on its back in the centre of the table, and everyone admired the piece silently. Taki was very proud of it, considering that it wasn't even supposed to have been made in the first place. Most of the pieces he'd done for the book had been on canvas, using a combination of pencil, paint and chalk, but this was the only one he'd done on paper with acrylics. The rich blues of the night sky combined with the striking colours of the comet to really jump out of the frame. He didn't regret giving it to Mitsuha, not one bit – he could tell that every piece he'd made had really meant a lot to her.

"Where are you going to put it?" Yotsuha asked.

"In my room," Mitsuha replied. "I'll get Dad to knock a nail in the wall or something, so that I can hang it up. My room's so plain, this should make it a little bit less boring in there."

"Well, my work is done here." Taki stood and bowed to his hosts. "Thank you for having me, but unfortunately I need to get home soon. Dad will be expecting me around…now, actually." He knew he'd forgotten something – he hadn't told his dad he was going to be home later than usual.

"Of course," Hitoha said. "Thank you for coming, and for everything you've done for my granddaughter." Taki saw Mitsuha roll her eyes at that last remark. "Have a safe journey home."

"Bye," Yotsuha called as Taki left the room. Mitsuha followed him out and closed the door behind her. Taki put on his shoes and coat, picked up his bag, and turned to see her quietly waiting.

"Thank you," she said, and lightly stepped forward before embracing him for just a second. "I know it was on the spur of the moment and everything, so thanks for coming and helping me put all this together. And thanks so much for the painting, it really means a lot to me."

"No problem," Taki responded, "I'm glad I could help." He opened the door and stepped outside. It was quite a bit colder than it had been when he'd arrived, and the sun had either completely set or was blocked by all the buildings. However, it was far from pitch black – the streetlamps and light pollution meant Tokyo was never truly dark. He shivered slightly and zipped up his coat, glad for the extra layer.

"Oh, one more thing." Taki turned to face Mitsuha, who was standing on the other side of the doorway. "Your grandmother knew." Mitsuha's face barely showed any change – it seemed she was expecting as much. "She recognised me. I don't know how much she knows, but it's more than we think."

"She really is something, huh." Despite being barely a metre apart, Mitsuha waved, and Taki waved back. "Good night, Taki."

"Good night, Mitsuha."

〈◆〉

The next day, things were a bit quieter. Inside the classroom, Mitsuha was still being bothered by everyone, but at least they were being a bit more organised about it. Information was spreading, and apparently a lot of students were going to visit the literature club this afternoon to buy copies of the book. Unfortunately, a lot of people decided that they would take this chance to educate themselves on Itomori via the internet and ask Mitsuha really specific and strange questions. They also found out that she was the mayor's daughter, and people could be seen discreetly showing each other their phones, watching video interviews of him following the disaster when teachers weren't looking. By the end of the week, most of the school would know more about Mitsuha than she did herself.

Taki watched from his seat as Mitsuha entered the room, trying desperately to ignore the attention suddenly given to her. As Taki had arrived first, he'd already been approached by a number of classmates, but he simply claimed ignorance and ignored them until they left. Unfortunately, that just meant there would be an even longer queue of questions for her.

Luckily for her, she arrived only moments before Furakawa-sensei entered the classroom. After everyone bowed, greeted him and settled down, he did the standard roll-call, then stood up at the front of the room. "I have a very exciting announcement today," he began, which quickly got the class' attention.

"As you know, every year we hold a school trip for each year group, and the third-year trip will be early next month." There were cheers from across the classroom. "It was supposed to be before the summer holidays, but unfortunately due to unforeseen circumstances the residential we had in mind had to be cancelled, which is why it's happening now. The trip will be partly a social and cultural experience, but there will also be the opportunity to engage in some academic study – the history, geography and science departments have all altered their planning slightly to allow their lessons to tie in with where you'll be going. Also, because of the short notice and the destination, it will be a single-day trip instead of the usual weekend."

With that last statement came groans of disappointment from across the room. "Not fair!" someone shouted. "Why did it have to be us?" Furakawa-sensei raised his voice to make himself heard.

"Quiet, please! I know you're upset…Morita-san, please sit back down! As I said, because everything had to be rearranged, we were unable to secure accommodation suitable for your entire year. Summer would have been too short notice, October was spent preparing for the cultural festival, November is a busy period for everyone, late December has Christmas and the National Centre Tests are in January; this was the only time available and we just couldn't make it all work out. We really are sorry." He seemed genuinely disappointed – since homeroom teachers rotate every year, he'd been looking forward to this trip for as long as the students had.

"As for the location in question…" At this the room quietened down – this was the important part, after all. It would be worth giving up the weekend residential if the place they went to was good enough. Taki leaned in to make sure he didn't miss anything, which meant he noticed the worrying look Furakawa-sensei sent in Mitsuha's direction. _Wait, don't tell me…!_

"The final arrangements were made just a few days before the cultural festival last week. The trip will be on Saturday the second of December, and will take place near Hida, in Gifu. I'm sure by now you're all familiar with the town of Itomori."

As one, the entire class turned their heads towards a single girl on the left side of the classroom. Her eyes wide and her mouth in a parting state of shock, Mitsuha was frozen in place.

She would be returning to Itomori.

* * *

 **A/N**

Finally, we return to the source of everything! I've been planning this since before I even started writing the story, and now it's actually happening. It's been a long way coming, but Itomori was always going to be the final destination, from the very beginning.

I feel like this chapter is pretty bad, I just couldn't get it to sit right somehow. Next chapter will be the last, so look forward to it!

 _Talndir_

* * *

 **23/01/2019:** Corrected 'Hayashi' to 'Furakawa' (thanks PenguinMangu!).


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